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The difference between this and other festivals is I would happily spend 3 days camping there even if no bands were playing. The location and atmosphere is better than anything I have experienced elsewhere- and I have only ever been to the first one. Every person I know who has been since has said the same thing. Going to be there for the next one 100% irrespective of who is on the bill.

I mean I have absolutely nothing against Muskelrock at all, but my perspective it totally different. My main concern for a festival are always the bands and not the surroundings. I am a music addict and so it my festival.. .
the main thing I always fear is that for some people the party becomes more important than the music and that frightens me, cause music shall always prevail and I am always a bit sorry for earlier bands when people stand outside instead of supporting the metal we all love so much. Of course its all a matter of taste in the end..

I guess you can't exclude having a great environment with having an interesting lineup. I agree with Olli that the music/bands should be the first priority but it is important as well to create an atmosphere were people can chat, have a beer and just have some fun fooling around. If I would go to a festival just for the latter? Guess not, but it would be a big bonus to any fest I would choose to attend.

For example when we organize the MDM Fest, we host it in a wooded secluded area that is far from houses and main roads etc so that we can have the area basically to ourselves were people can relax between bands and just have some fun on the outside. It would cost us much less to do it in a club in the centre of the 'nightlife' area, so to speak, but it would lose it's holistic aim as far as we're concerned. We know fully well that Heavy Metal isn't just the music but a whole number of other 'social' factors which make it so special although the music should remain as the top priority.

The music being the top priority was something I argued several pages/months ago to much disgust from a lot of users that have brand loyalty to this festival. This was basically the backbone to my argument and why I did and still do find this "secret line-up" nonsense so ridiculous.

Apparently the atmosphere and the ability to drink are higher priority to those that attend then the actual bands.

Hardly anyone goes to a festival for just the music, the balance between other factors then varies from person to person, there's no point saying someone is stupid for caring less about every band being great, not that I support the idea of secret line-ups though.

Oliver/KIT wrote:I mean I have absolutely nothing against Muskelrock at all, but my perspective it totally different. My main concern for a festival are always the bands and not the surroundings. I am a music addict and so it my festival.. .
the main thing I always fear is that for some people the party becomes more important than the music and that frightens me, cause music shall always prevail and I am always a bit sorry for earlier bands when people stand outside instead of supporting the metal we all love so much. Of course its all a matter of taste in the end..

The music and the atmosphere and surroundings are things that can't quite be separated.

For example the festival area at Muskelrock is lovely and really cozy and you can also bring your own drinks there. It's great to crack a beer and watch a band you don't know that well in the afternoon sun. The acoustics are good and generally the conditions are great for enjoying music for hours on end. At KIT the hall is mostly really crowded and hot like a sauna which gets uncomfortable after a while. I often find myself skipping a few bands to drink outside and breathe some fresh air - and early in the afternoon I often browse for records at the stalls and just wish whatever band is on stage would shut up. And yet (lo behold) the record market is one of the reasons I enjoy KIT so much.

Maybe we have to put some sofas and snacks for enjoyment at KIT then...
Sometimes I think you guys have never been at shows in the 80ies and early 90ies...For me metal was never about relaxing or good or bad air, nor if i can go swimming or sun bathing...

How about building a nice swimming pool outside and having a bar with exotic cocktails served by gorgeous latinas? It's a win-win situation because I'm sure that another 30% of the people will not enter the venue at all and the rest will be more comfortable inside without having to endure the stench of stinky breaths and sweaty armpits

Well, the environment IS important.

Sweden rock this year has a great line up. But Ive seen most bands already. Happy with my muskelrock experience, and not in the mood for shoving around with 25000 other people I decided not to go.

Small cozy festivals is the shit.

I think both things are important.

Being confortable is key to enjoy concerts,

Of course music is first, it's obvious that nobody will spend as much money as some of us do to go to germany, greece, uk, sweden or wherever if there are no good bands playing. They will go to Wacken, get drunk and that's it.

But for example, I will never ever go back to a festival in Spain cause the enviroment is shit, the camping is shit, the drinks are shit and the temperature is boilling hot.

No matter the bands, we saw Riot playing with the Thundersteel line up in such a shitty place in spain that I didn't enjoy the show at all.

So the environment matters.

daniel wrote:If I had the money I'd have gone to see Rich Walker be a pussy and hide backstage like he's done at other festivals in fear of getting into trouble. But I found out too late, and couldn't have saved up anyway

Haha, that's pretty limp fighting talk.

? I was just being utterly realistic about the situation. You think I'd actually borrow money just to see him after all these years?

Oliver/KIT wrote:Sometimes I think you guys have never been at shows in the 80ies and early 90ies...

So you're implying a fair bit of KIT attendants and/or forum regulars are not in their 40's but actually younger than that... yeah, that's probably something you can safely assume.

mordred wrote:

Oliver/KIT wrote:Sometimes I think you guys have never been at shows in the 80ies and early 90ies...

So you're implying a fair bit of KIT attendants and/or forum regulars are not in their 40's but actually younger than that... yeah, that's probably something you can safely assume.

No, I just wanted to point out that the situations at concerts nowadays are like paradise compared to the ones in the prime time of metal. Back then you did not need any surroundings..just metal...

Oliver/KIT wrote: No, I just wanted to point out that the situations at concerts nowadays are like paradise compared to the ones in the prime time of metal. Back then you did not need any surroundings..just metal...

Hah, come see some underground metal shows in North America if you want to see some nitty-gritty shit...