That’s the reason I sent that Bonnaroo report yesterday, to illustrate it’s not the baby boomers’ business anymore, it’s not even Generation X’s.

We’ve been inundated with stories about the survival of classic rock bands, their road numbers, and the legacies of the early MTV acts, this is obscuring a fact that is becoming self-evident, the millennials have taken over. While boomers debated online music, decried Napster, bought iPods and then believed in files, the millennials weren’t even paying attention. File-trading was de rigueur and streaming is now the standard. It’s the oldsters who are reluctant to sign up for Spotify, not the youngsters, which is why the U.S. Top Fifty contains acts you’ve never heard of and don’t want to hear, because you’re still living in the last century, maybe even the first decade of this century, but it’s now 2017.

Maybe you caught the ascension of Kanye, his attack upon Taylor Swift, the sideshow. You’d seen it before, rap artist and teen phenom. But that obscured what was really going on. Hell, Kanye committed his faux pas at the MTV Video Music Awards. When was the last time you watched MTV? Do you even know what channel it is on? And when was the last time you even watched the VMAs, admit it, you stopped half a decade or so ago, when you no longer recognized the acts, which are all evanescent popsters.

That’s the new world.

The classic acts are irrelevant. Do you even know that Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie have a new album? They’re much more famous than all the acts on the top of the chart, but they haven’t even reached six digits on all tracks but one on Spotify. BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT LISTENING! You either didn’t sign up or don’t care or both. And the point is if you’re waiting for boomer acts to rescue the business, to bring rock back, to have an impact, you’re DREAMING! It almost doesn’t matter whether their new material is good or bad, MILLENNIALS DON’T CARE!

We keep hearing that there are no headliners. While Rihanna and rappers sell out arenas. Come on, you want an up close and personal experience, you don’t even want to go if you’re in the front row, not with 20,000 others. BUT THEY DO! It’s a tribal rite wherein they take selfies and document their adventures and bask in the glow of the new music.

Kind of like the EDM scene. How would you know what’s going on, ever been to a rave, never mind EDC? You’re clueless! Which is fine, because you’re old. But don’t crap on the youngsters.

The youngsters don’t expect the acts to last. And they don’t care about the album. And they care a lot about the backstory, the feuds, they research these acts on Wikipedia, follow them online. They just need something to listen to, they don’t care if it’s what they were listening to last week or the year before. And they don’t even care what the genre is, as long as it’s popular. They want to belong. They want to know what their brethren are listening to. And the experience is different. You sat in front of the stereo with your seeds and stems and nodded to the album. They take their music everywhere, it’s in the air, it’s the soundtrack to their multifarious lives.

And these are the same millennials pissed about college debt. The same millennials who threw a monkey wrench in the election on both the left and the right. That’s the story of 2016, how both the Republicans and the Democrats were clueless. How Sanders and Trump made such inroads. But Hillary keeps complaining it was somebody else’s fault and the Republicans are dumbstruck, unclear whether to follow Trump to the abyss or stand up for what they used to. Even Rubio is defending Trump!

And then there’s acquisition and driving. Boomers are about owning things. Remember the aphorism “He who dies with the most toys wins.”? Millennials don’t want to own ANYTHING, not even a car. They consume services, which they expect to be on demand. And why waste time going to a retail store when it can all be delivered to your house and sent back for free.

Of course there are exceptions, of course there are young shoppers and drivers, but we are concerned with the trends. And while the oldsters weren’t looking, the millennials took over. It wasn’t a coup, they don’t care about the aged, they just kept marching forward in their own direction, and with their mass and attention and spending power they moved the needle. Not only do you not see classic rock acts in the Top Fifty, you don’t see jam bands. You’ve got Max Martin saying songs have to hook you immediately and have multiple hooks and you’ve got rock bands with thirty second intros with lame vocals. Did you think this was gonna go on forever?

The change happened in plain sight.

Some people adjusted. Like Live Nation. Last year attendance at Bonnaroo was abysmal. So this year they stacked the stage with blue chips and youngsters, to see if the festival was viable. Even Coachella, going with Beyonce and then ultimately Gaga. It’s a young people’s business, they’re the ones supporting it, and you either play to them or…

You’re history.

 

From: Tom Forrest
Subject: Bonnaroo Winners and Losers

 

Bob,

Long time reader in Nashville. Just got back from Bonnaroo. Started going in 2007. Even though I am in the Industry, I go with all non-industry guys who love music. Most of the our crew have been going 10+ years and roll 10+ hrs a day. 2017 was by far the most transformative year for Bonnaroo that I have seen and mostly for the better.

 

Winners

The Fans: There was a noticeably big increase in attendance this year. The fans wanted a more relevant line up, got one and came. Chance, The Weeknd and all the EDM shows were by far the main draw. As with every year, the kids were kind, energetic and having fun.

Chance the Rapper: Kept telling my crew that Chance was the main draw not U2 or RHCP. They looked at me like I was crazy but 95% of the ‘Rooers were all in on Chance. We squeezed way in on house right but soon bailed. It was a mosh pit 300 yards out. The Tennessean called Chance: the King of Bonnaroo this morning

The Other Stage: There were several modest changes in the Bonnaroo layout that were good. Centeroo was divided up some to make it less cumbersome to navigate, Hamegeddon moved as to not clog up tragic in front of Which Stage, THIS Tent moved to a better graded spot for better sight lines BUT by far the biggest addition was the changing The OTHER Tent to THE OTHER STAGE. The Other Stage is almost as big as the WHAT Stage (main) and 100% dedicated to EMD acts. The change went from a 5k tent to a 25-30k outdoor EDM stage. The kids loved it and was always packed.

Live Nation was the big winner. They took a festival that was running out of acts for an aging Hippie/Dead/Phish jam generation and gave it new life. Gone were the middling aging Americana acts or aging rockers on their 4th comeback tour that can’t sing anymore. Almost all the artists performing seemed currently relevant that a younger audience would know about. The best Bonnaroo weather ever will also certainly help Live Nation secure new fans for years to come. You could not help but have a good time. Here are the acts I thought killed it: Mondo Cosmo, Car Seat Headrest, Lucas Nelson, Joseph, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and Cage the Elephant. Best find: Boyfriend who performed in Christmas Barn.

 

Losers

U2: Don’t believe the hype of Rolling Stone and other bloggers. U2 was not a bust at Bonnaroo but it was by far not an epic moment as described. U2 were not the reason the majority of fans were there for. Both Chance and RHCP had double the audience. From my perspective, Bono seemed frustrated with the crowd for not knowing his songs. Bono pontificated after most songs and was struggling to know how far he could push it with the audience. He seemed to be holding back wanting to go off on Trump. At the end of the show Bono told everyone to go to bed and yelled “Fuck” into the mic. I am a U2 fan but Bono was off. The other half of the crowd that was not at U2 was taking a break before the next show at the OTHER Stage. The other thing Bono forgot is that its always someone first time seeing your show or hearing your music. Bono did very little to embrace that portion of the audience which was by far the most U2 has experienced in quite awhile.

This Tent/ That Tent: It was great to be able to see so many great acts up close in THIS Tent and THAT tent. In past years, you could not get close on the good acts but when the OTHER stage has 25k kids at it all day long, something has to give. Win for me.

The old Bonnaroo Hippie Spirit: The old time Bonnaroo hippies were noticeably absent. Its like they vanished. Very few tie die shirts. It was most noticeable on High Five Friday when the vast majority of the audience did not know what the custom was of high fives on Friday. The old hippie guard was not there to keep it rolling. Let’s hope that kind hippie spirit lives on regardless.

Ominous signs of Coachella: EDM is one thing. Its evident that kids love it and I like it. But I started to see signs of kids want to glam up Bonnaroo and make it a fashion statement. I do not think the trend will stick however, its too hard to camp in the dust, rain and mud for 4 days and be fashionable. Wait till next year when the heat and rain are back.

 

My thoughts might not make all that much sense but wanted to write them down and share.

Tom Forrest
Bonnaroo Fan
Nashville, TN

Now I know where not to bank & who not to fly with. Actions like this create a culture of fear. We must support free expression, not punish. https://t.co/GYYs4Fw8TG

— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) June 12, 2017

 

UPDATE: @BankofAmerica joins @Delta in pulling sponsorship of @PublicTheaterNY over Trump-themed #JuliusCaesar. https://t.co/Ln2LBz7GpU

— BroadwayWorld (@BroadwayWorld) June 12, 2017

 

The great bifurcation has begun. All that hogwash about the corporation being your friend, all that b.s. about getting Amex and Citi to sponsor your tour… They are not on your team and you’re corrupting yourself by making that deal. The role of an artist is not to get rich, BUT TO SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER!

Come on, we hated United and the stock went up. We’ve got such short memories. We pray at the altar of money, but now there’s even something richer at play, FEAR!

Everybody’s afraid. Say anything against our President and your inbox will go berserk, your Twitter feed will start scrolling, because that’s one thing the right does the left does not, which is endless gotcha, endless pushback. And if we’re waiting for the Democrats to get their act together, we might as well give up. It’s time FOR US TO LEAD!

Time to call the corporations out.

Or, as we said back in the sixties…WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

This is art folks. This is not the Koch Brothers spreading false information about climate change, this is not polluting, this is not killing, this is people using their brains to make a statement. It matters not a whit whether it’s right or wrong, that’s their prerogative. And, of course, it’s the prerogative of corporations to pull sponsorship, but are we now equating art with O’Reilly’s sexual harassment? No one was standing up defending Bill, but the New York Public Theater, which premiered “Hamilton”?? One of our most august arts institutions? This is what the division in our country has come to, that blue chips have to run scared, be worried about what they present?

And the weasels who run the corporations are clueless, so far removed from the rank and file they don’t know how to behave. And the dirty little secret is it doesn’t take many complaints for them to be scared and take action. TV networks get A COUPLE of complaints and they go into a tizzy, cancel shows, kick people off. That’s the power of speaking up. And you need to speak up about this, because they’re coming for you next, that’s right!

As for all you right wing wankers complaining about free speech on campus… The inability of extremists like Coulter, Milo and Murray to speak, what have you got to say about this? Oh, you’re gonna say no one’s stopping them from mounting the play, but the truth is this is gonna put a huge dent in the Public Theater’s ability to continue.

They call this a chilling event.

Our whole nation is chilled. Because Agent Orange is coming after you, and if it’s not him it’s his minions, the rich and disadvantaged who would rather have you starve than pay another penny in taxes, give another cent to welfare.

Taxes? They pay for roads and infrastructure.

Welfare? Give people a leg up and they don’t rob you and they become model citizens benefiting society. When did it all become about mine for me?

But the point is artists and corporations were never on the same side. An artist may be anxious about a statement, but that does not mean they pull back, they put it out there. And oftentimes what you’re worried about most resonates, happens to me all the time, I think I’m gonna be excoriated and my inbox fills up with hosannas. But that’s assuming you’re playing at all, that you’re not too scared to take a risk.

But everybody’s scared. Everybody’s playing it safe. Especially these corporations dominating the world, run by overpaid nitwits convinced they know better.

They don’t.

I know better than them because I’m hearing from thousands of people all the time. Believe me, my inbox would horrify and elate you all at the same time.

That’s what happens when you’re on the front lines.

Reporters are faceless, they’ve got no idea what’s going on.

And neither do the CEOs.

But we’ve got boots on the ground. Which is why Twitter and other online resources are so important. That’s where I found out about this aberration. From Beau Willimon, the creator of “House of Cards,” whom I respect.

Who do you respect?

Follow them, encourage them, push them to take a risk. And support them when they hang it out there. Because we’re about to lose freedom of speech not through law or protest but through the chilling effect of the Administration’s blowback.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

And if you think I’m kidding, you’re a nincompoop without a backbone who never took a stand.

That’s the question of 2017…WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

He got locked in the box of being Jerry Garcia.

This is not the movie I expected it to be. If you’re looking for the Altamont story, an in-depth analysis of the band’s keyboardists and their deaths, this flick is not for you. Actually, I’m not sure this film will satisfy anybody, even the hardest core Deadheads, because it’s mostly others telling their story of the band, and if you were ever touched, if you were a fan, you’ve got your own. Buying the albums, trading the tapes, going to the show… Each concert was different, and that’s what built the legend, much more than the passing of cassettes, it was a living breathing thing that was palpable, very different from a show today, still-influenced by MTV, with a firm setlist and production, the Dead made it up as they went along, and if you weren’t there you might miss out, but what made the band go nuclear was the hit, “Touch Of Grey,” suddenly everybody was clued in, because some things never change, it’s always about the single.

And when the band reaches the pinnacle it’s always about the money. You’re the center of an ecosystem. If you leave the road, if you break up, what are all those people gonna do for a living? And the responsibility weighs heavy. Everybody says go, from the manager to the agent to your fellow players, never mind the audience, and then you self-destruct. This is what happened to Kurt Cobain, I believe it’s what happened to Chris Cornell, and it definitely happened to Jerry Garcia.

But you don’t want to hear that. You want to put these people on a pedestal, invest them with your hopes and dreams, and the greats were never in it for that. They wanted acknowledgement, they wanted success, but they didn’t want to fulfill expectations, they wanted to experiment, they wanted to be free, like in the sixties.

If you’re watching on Amazon there are six episodes. And it becomes an endurance test. And if you’re not up for the full investment, just watch the first and the last, they’re superior. But that’s the difference between then and now, we had few options, we experienced boredom, we’d go to the Grateful Dead show and it would be one hour of greatness, one hour of trash and two hours of mediocrity, not that anybody would admit it. But at least give them credit for trying to climb that hill, achieve greatness. And this flick mirrors a Dead show, and when it’s on, it’s SPECTACULAR!

Like is said in the flick, Ronald Reagan wanted to erase the sixties. The Republicans still want to achieve this, even though it was fifty years ago. But if you were alive back then, you know the sixties were not overrated, our only regret was they didn’t continue, that we didn’t get to participate in everything, we wanted to go to the Acid Tests which we didn’t know existed until Tom Wolfe’s book, that’s what made Woodstock so big, everybody had gotten the memo, they didn’t want to be LEFT OUT!

But first there was just a germ of an idea.

You’ve got to start with economics. You could live on next to nothing. You could pursue your dream. Even I did this, spending two years skiing in Utah. No American does this anymore, they’re afraid of missing out on their career, and it costs too much to do it. And don’t criticize the ski talk, Jerry Garcia loved to SCUBA dive, and even their old road manager, Sam Cutler, says you’ve got to get away from it to survive, he even referenced snow skiing.

But, once again, you don’t want your heroes to be human.

And if you’ve met your heroes you’re sorely disappointed almost all of the time. Your image does not comport with reality. And today everybody wants the responsibility of being a star, but Garcia stopped talking, he was afraid of people hanging on his every word.

So, it’s the turn of the decade. From the fifties to the sixties. The beatniks paved the way, and the poets did too. And you became a musician not for the money but because you got the bug, you were bitten. And Garcia was and his goal was never to make commercial music, but the music in his head. And first and foremost it had to be FUN!

That’s a running theme in the film, along with Garcia’s infatuation with Frankenstein. Jerry only wants to do it if it’s fun. And he’s into the moment, not the legacy, he’s all about the now. So if you’re looking for instruction, if you’re looking for lessons, I wouldn’t start with the Dead, they were making it up as they went along. Hell, try that, but good luck surviving. You see times have changed. You can’t make it here. But Jerry, et al, did.

And they all acknowledge Jerry is the leader, the teacher, the inspiration.

And Jerry was inspired by what was going on around him and a high school student named Brigid Meier. And when she returns, 28 years later, when Jerry has Dennis McNally track her down you know all men are the same, looking back, never forgetting where they were, who they were, the women that influenced them. It’s not about hanging with the rich and famous, it’s about hanging with those who knew you when.

And that’s the essence of the picture, the Brigid Meier story.

As for the rest…

I really don’t care what Al Franken has to say about the band. Or Steve Silberman. Or even Nick Paumgarten, the most articulate of the three. Because, like I said, we all have our own stories.

And the stories are not fully fleshed out. Joe Smith has told me numerous times about telling the band to make one for him, after multiple uncommercial LPs, but somehow the band just gets divine inspiration and makes “Workingman’s Dead,” even though Joe says a lot, this is not included.

Nor is the formation of their own record company.

Nor is there emphasis on the postcards and their fan club.

And they mention European tours and going to the pyramids but you want to know more about road life, and you want to know more about relationships, Mountain Girl is only mentioned by her daughter Trixie. And I won’t say the film is a whitewash, but there’s very little negative in it, and there’s always negative in life, it’s amazing we get along at all.

So, the early footage is revelatory. As is some footage of the initial European tour. But this flick is not about facts, but feeling. And too often they miss the feeling. You get the feeling of what it was like to be in the band before it was signed, which makes the initial installment so good, and the mania of the end, when there were more people outside the stadium than in it, but the all night Fillmore shows, how “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty” blew up the band, working with Lowell George… That’s nowhere to be found. The Dead meant the most in the seventies, the eighties and nineties were a victory lap, and although they say this about the later period, they don’t go into depth about the commercial heyday of the 1970s.

So I’m disappointed.

I think most people will be disappointed. Assuming they watch it at all.

Have you got four hours to watch a Grateful Dead movie? Only the most hardcore Deadhead does, and there are not enough nuggets here to satisfy them.

Maybe the film had to be sixteen hours long.

Or there had to be a cut and uncut version.

The definitive story of the Grateful Dead has yet to be told. And isn’t that just the point? The story is continuing, it will never die, the act will probably outlive its members, which is rare these days.

Because they were in it for the music.

Until they were in it for the business and it destroyed them.

Forgiveness – Spotify

When did we evolve into a zero tolerance society?

People are imperfect, they make mistakes, unless forewarned, should they pay the ultimate penalty? Should they lose their jobs, get kicked out of school for having a brain fart, even when premeditated with a blind spot, even when conscious?

My college had an honor code. Break it and you faced the consequences. But those kids who were just kicked out of Harvard for writing bad stuff on Facebook… I don’t want to defend it, some of it was truly heinous, but do they deserve to lose their place in class? Does Kathy Griffin need to have her career decimated? Does Bill Maher have to be kicked off of HBO? Just because someone commits a faux pas and offends someone, does their employer have to invoke the nuclear option? The employer maintains, as does the complainer. The one who made the mistake…

Have you heard anything from Michael Richards recently? I’m not sure he ever got over his mortification from making racist comments in the heat of the moment.

And there’s a camera everywhere.

No one bats a thousand and no one ever gets it all right. Is this the culture we want to live in, where everybody walks around inhibited, afraid to speak? It’s the free exchange of ideas that makes our society great. You find out you’re wrong and you adjust. Impulse is the core of creativity. Once you start filtering your instincts, you screw it up.

Now I’m not saying repeat offenders shouldn’t pay a price. Bill O’Reilly had a blind spot that he was unwilling to admit to, he was a serial harasser.

But Billy Bush? Come on, we’ve all been in that situation, hanging with someone richer and more powerful than we are, we’re uptight, we don’t quite know how to act, so we agree, we play along. Come on, you’ve never winced at your behavior, what you’ve said after an encounter?

I mean does it have to be so black and white? Is Comey a bad guy forever because he interfered with the election, or can he be a good guy now?

And this isn’t right or left. Everybody deserves a pass, at least now and again.

Certain things are beyond the pale, like killing someone. But there are even exceptions there, having to do with premeditation, insanity, but in the court of public opinion you’re guilty, you get no trial, and you’re permanently on the sidelines while everybody else moves on and forgets about you.

This is kind of like the drug laws. Or three strikes and you’re out. We’re so busy creating rules to make us feel safe that we coarsen our society.

Now I don’t know where to draw the line, this is a gray area.

But in schools, there’s a zero tolerance policy.

And in media.

And you become a pariah. I’m pissed at Al Franken for canceling appearances with Kathy Griffin and Bill Maher. That’s how you know who your true friends are, whether they stand by you or abandon you in times of crisis. Al can say he’s worried about voters, but grow a pair, will you? What’s more important, getting re-elected or standing up for what’s right?

Didn’t Don Henley sing it was about forgiveness?

But that was almost thirty years ago. When our rock stars were chiaroscuro, not held up as perfect, before they all got plastic surgery and told us they were better than we were.

And the stars used to sing about love. That’s one of my favorite verses, from Todd Rundgren:

And when you feel afraid, love one another
When you’ve lost your way, love one another
When you’re all alone, love one another
When you’re far from home, love one another
When you’re down and out, love one another
All your hope’s run out, love one another
When you need a friend, love one another
When you’re near the end, love one another
We got to love one another

Love is the answer. Something John Lennon preached and got shot for. If he wasn’t so damn famous, he wouldn’t have been a target. Everybody on the edge is a target, but we need those pushing the envelope to enlighten us, to stimulate us, to entertain us.

What did Ian Hunter sing, once bitten twice shy?

How about that. Give somebody a bite. And then be on guard for other failures, other trips over the line.

But when someone screws up just once, why should they pay the ultimate penalty?