Franz Ferdinand at Truck Festival 2017
As festival season approaches mot people are excited to get back in a field, drink some warm cider and listen to their favourite bands and find fun new artists. But, there’s always an exception, the music snobs who want to spoil festival season for everyone and this is done by complaining about the line up, saying how festivals were better in the 90s. Here's a few points on why I think we should stop complaining about festival line ups.
1.There can be more than one genre at a festival!
A few years ago Kanye West said "rap is the new rock and roll" and whilst he may be making headlines today about his weird, alt right twitter antics, I do agree with this statement. This year Kendrick Lamar has been announced as headliner for Reading and Leeds festival, they even have a stage dedicated to grime, r'n'b and hip hop (BBC Radio 1 xtra stage). Reading and Leeds was traditionally a rock festival, but times have changed, the festival has grown massively. The appeal is now for the younger audience who are just finishing school, where rock and indie may not be as popular as they used to be. Whereas rock has been used a platform to make a change in young people's lives, r'n'b, hip hop and grime now have the platform to do that, a great example of this is Stormzy's Brits 2018 performance, calling out Theresa May. But, put aside politics we do not need to limit ourselves to only like one genre of music, so why should one of our countries biggest festivals only represent one genre? As we were pioneers of britpop and indie rock in the 80s and 90s, we are pioneers of grime and this needs to be represented!
2.If you like 5 or more artists performing one one day, you will have the best time!
If you have a look at day splits for a festival, and there's at least five bands or artists that you like playing one day, your onto a winner. If there's 5 bands that you want to see and a day ticket is £60, that's £12 per band and artist, so works out a lot cheaper than just buying tickets to each of their headline tours. If every band/artist you've ever liked was playing at the same festival, this would definitely mean there would be clashes and from my personal experience clashes are stressful! They can ruin the chilled festival vibe you were going for, because you're running from stage to stage to try and catch at least one song from your faves, when you could just be enjoying a whole set.
3.Festivals are the best place to discover something new!
Imagine you're walking around the festival a few hours before your favourite band are headlining, there will literally be so much talent surrounding you. Bands and artists you may not have heard before that might not be what you normally listen to, but you might enjoy it. If you are at a festival with a BBC introducing stage or a local talent stage, you are in for a treat, bands you see on here will be faves for the next years. But festivals are no longer just for music, you could try out a new look and dress head to toe in glitter, because no one will care you're at a festival! There's also the opportunity to buy lots of clothes and accessories you wouldn't find anywhere else. Music and fashion covered, there's still more to try, the amount of different cuisines from all over the world are all in one field, and honestly, they can be some of the best food you will ever have (throwback to the pulled pork burger I had at Truck festival 2017, I still think about you).
So if you are on the edge about buying some festival tickets, because there's not many bands you know playing, give it a try, you'll probably enjoy yourself! There's no experience like a festival and if you're with good friends, old or new, you'll definitely have a better time than watching it by yourself on iPlayer, on your sofa at home.
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