fyre festival is going well

is because someone lost the box with all the luxury villa keys in it.

We loved that. Also I had a realization that these docs -- in terms of featuring its principals spouting off idiocies that they don't realize are ridiculous -- means we have the American equivalent to the Bros doc.

Do either of these docs have "dramatic reenactments" or is it all talking witnesses? While I generally hate when there's some dude dressed as King Tut or Howard Taft or whatever in TV documentaries, low-rung actors miming out low-rung lifestyle influencers could be excellent.

Talking witnesses but also tons of footage, since we're at the technological state now where you don't need to do reenactments with an event like this -- the whole point was that people were recording themselves online. There's also enough photos from McFarland's earlier ventures, a video of his goofy early demo presentation, etc.

Licensing all that cell phone footage from attendees must have been a real bear of a job...

so which fyre fest doc is the prestige and which is the illusionist

— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) January 15, 2019

Okay, the Netflix one is definitely good too. More concrete thoughts tomorrow.

I’ve been watching the Netflix doc tonight, as I putter around the house. I won’t say much (don’t wanna upstage Ned), other than that it’s well-produced... and man, what a story.

the Evian moment in the Netflix doc is one hell of a *record scratch*

OMG, I just got to that part

netflix doc gave me anxiety

I might be just sick of the whole story now, but I liked the Hulu one a lot more. Netflix had too many dudes trying to absolve themselves of any responsibility... and what was with that one attendee talking about beating up the tents around him because him and his friends didn't want neighbors. That just zipped by - really gross. Turns out making fun of influencer interviewees >>> trying to take the attendees seriously.

^^yeah, that moment was weird... or at least made me wish the doc had spent a little more time on the actual “event.” Although I’m also not sure how much I’d really want to dwell on those disturbing details. (I haven’t seen the Hulu doc to compare how they handle it.)

What’s the background of the balding guy who ended up filing the joint lawsuit (after tweeting the “you’ll hear from my lawyer”’parting shot), and whom they interviewed a lot? I didn’t look him up, but was curious.

A few North Carolina folks I know are not impressed with him and his apparent attempt to milk the 15-tweets-of-fame moment into something lasting.

Maffew12 correct re that one test-destroying guy, who apparently is getting destroyed himself now online, appropriately.

There's a fundraiser going for the Bahamian caterer in the Netflix doc who has the pretty heavy breakdown near the end.

https://www.gofundme.com/exuma-point-fyre-fest-debt

So yeah, tying together some of my random thoughts from Facebook/elsewhere:

There's a moment halfway through the Netflix Fyre documentary that is probably the most "WTF DID I JUST SEE" moment on TV since the Red Wedding. (aka the Evian moment) I think both documentaries are good in different ways, though I'd say the Netflix one has a striking visual approach which works well, as well as a great soundtrack -- lots of atmospheric Reznor/Ross stuff from various sources -- and more Bahamian voices, not that there were none in the Hulu one. Both have plenty of footage of Billy McFarland but Hulu got him for the interview and it's just amazing watching him bluff and fail throughout. Probably more likely I'll rewatch the Netflix one, though.

Jeff Treppel said elsewhere the Netflix one is a great horror movie and he's right -- the fact that nobody (that we know of) got hurt there, or actually died, means you can enjoy it for those tropes being applied in documentary style. You KNOW there's impending doom, you know it's all going to go bad somehow, and again the use of music throughout quietly underscored that. Very clever.

Building on maffew's point a bit: the implied shade re the end of the Hulu one noting Fuck Jerry was going to do their own documentary (aka the Netflix one) plays out because there is a slight air of exculpation going on when they interview the one Fuck Jerry dude there. But then again, he almost hangs himself on his own rope, and the comments from the exFJ guy in the Hulu one -- that FJ knew damn well things were fucked up well in advance, instead of the Netflix one making it seem like they were surprised when they got there -- can't be ignored. (Said exFJ guy does show up briefly in the footage on Exuma but is not identified or called out as such.)

Grant Margolin, that weird little toady/co-operator, isn't interviewed in either, but only in the Netflix one do you have all those clips of him talking. Just background shots or photos in the Hulu one. Though he wasn't willing to sit for an interview in either, the Ja Rule footage in the Hulu one makes him seem like an annoying dope. In the Netflix one, he's more stupid, malicious and abusive. Also seen prominently in both, more in the Netflix one: Carola Jain. I have questions about that -- on the one hand there were clearly other funders that McFarland rooked in as well, so the focus on her solely aside from aside mentions in the Hulu one is a bit 'hmm.' At the same time, she clearly was a major player, as the Netflix film clips of her in the office and all showed, and just as clearly she didn't want to have to go on camera in either film and basically say "Yes I completely fell for this swindle."

When it comes to McFarland, the Hulu doc was good in showing that McFarland's enabling started early. That grotesque statement from his mom! (I did like the computerized voiceovers in that part.) But something that the Netflix one had was more about his post-Fyre pre-sentencing attempt to launch a further scam from that penthouse. Absolutely had a Morbsian moment of "Burn them all" when the caption came up on the one guy who was (is?) a press secretary for Chuck Schumer. Wonder if they'd know each other when younger or something. And that Frank clown! The photo of him in the Magnises/Fyre gear, I hope he never escapes from that. But documentaries have things the others do not. Example: the Hulu one gets a couple of actual ‘influencers’ to sit on camera and talk about what they do, and in doing so show the line between scamming others and scamming yourself is pretty thin. “Positivity!”

It’s a bit of a pity that neither doc got the person on camera who wrote in her piece last year about being one of the NYC-based organizers who were desperately hired to fix things. She’s the one who passed on the must legenrday line from the whole debacle: “Let’s just do it and be legends, man.”

And as a last thought, just the amount of people featured in both documentaries, but I think more damningly in the Netflix one, who read Billy's attitude/approach in general as...acceptable? Which says a lot about power dynamics etc but it's also just weird to see Silicon Valley 'we're changing the world!' lifehack/savior complex culture in NYC, and you got a lot of that from the Fyre programmers and types, even the one woman programmer to a degree. Like, how was any of this attractive to start with? I said this before when the whole fiasco happened but everything about Fyre and its marketing was so singularly unappealing to me -- which, sure, given my age and attitudes and all, but even if I was the target age I wouldn't've seen the point of it. Absolutely aiming at a mindset I feel nothing in common with. And even almost to the end with McFarland, you get random comments from people like "he was fun to be around" and I'm all "Your idea of fun sucks and you are dumb."

XP - I hope that little Lord Of The Flies mf and his buddies get a taste, he was so blase about being an awful human being.

There's a fundraiser going for the Bahamian caterer in the Netflix doc who has the pretty heavy breakdown near the end.

https://www.gofundme.com/exuma-point-fyre-fest-debt

Which doc should one watch first if watching the second is even a possibility? That is, which is less/more likely to make me want to watch the second?

I'm all "Your idea of fun sucks and you are dumb."

Yup! Too many conspirators looking for sympathy. Hard to watch.

I mean I saw them as they were released -- Hulu, then Netflix -- and I have no sense that there's a right or wrong order per se, but that way worked well enough for me.

i wonder how many islands total they went through after they got booted off Norman Cay

also fessing up: i never knew Fyre was a service/app first & then a festival. I thought it was just a name like Lollapolooza or Outside Lands or w/e

Same here

only seen the netflix one, agree re: the horror movie vibes, when everyone finally shows up on the island :O but it was also very good at showing the damage went beyond rich white kids having an unexpectedly unpleasant night or two.

i still want to know if any of the acts actually showed. we get told blink 182 cancelled pretty much on the day, a guy from major lazer is interviewed but doesn't really say much.

^I was wondering this too... it focuses very little on the actual “music festival” element of the story.

yeah i was curious too

I want to hear more about the money laundering charges. Who was he laundering for, and how much?

Think the laundering was just for himself, wasn't it?

Basically no bands arrived at all. Something to consider: the bands (with road crew, entourages, etc.) seem to have either smelled a rat or the organizers knew that having them along would just make things worse. More of a 'don't fuck with us or you'll regret it' stance happening given their lawyers etc. Most of these influencer randos (as opposed to all the models), in contrast, were...just themselves, and probably have way less of a support staff as such outside of commercial partnerships. Easier to potentially fob off.

never got around to looking at the lineup til now and you'd have had to pay ME

I am now going down the rabbit hole of worst festivals ever

https://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/5-4-2017/a-brief-history-of-the-worst-festivals-ever.html

Erie/Bull Island story is amazing, I know there's a more in-depth article out there

yeah like why did the mayor ban it? cos of Sabbath?

not sure, none of the sources really say

https://www.ozy.com/flashback/how-hippies-put-on-the-worst-music-festival-in-history/80829

kind of amazing the logistics, finding a place in Illinois that was only accessible through Indiana

With only six outhouses and half-dug wells to serve as sanitation, thousands instead took to relieving themselves en masse in what became known as “The Turd Fields” and bathing in the Wabash River.

yeah the band lineup for Fyre is like, whut

i would not go to ~Berkeley~ to see that lineup, let alone the Bahamas

I mean, Tyga? I left one of his shows before he came on when "Rack City" was still getting radio play.

the Ron Funches line in the Netflix doc is great, (paraphrasing) a bunch of people paying thousands to go to the Bahamas to see Blink 182? Let them go, this is Darwinism at its best etc

I'm always kinda fascinated by festivals. compared to regular concerts, which usually run fairly smoothly, Festivals can be outright lawlessness! I wouldn't say I've been to a bad one, luckily. but even the best ones usually have issues, whether it be issues with the grounds, substandard contractors, security going rogue. I know the first time I went to Maryland Death Fest, the security was so bad they kept making people who already had festival wristbands wait in line with people purchasing, only to correct the 'mistake' after some of us waited in line 40 minutes. they roughed up some individuals to the point where the organizers said they wouldn't hire security from the same source the next year.

I do remember Welcome to Rockville in Jacksonville getting largely disrupted by tornado-spawning thunder storms, with attendees screaming after terrible bands like the Hollywood Undead and Devil Wears Prada had to cancel (as if there was any choice - you could see tree debris on the interstate for miles). but y'know, that's an act of God.

I think this is the reason I stick to established festivals. The only fledgling one I ever attended was the Florida Metal Fest, which only happened once, but it was a well-run machine! I have major issues with claustrophobia so reading about festivals where people get trampled or suffocate scare me.

at least with regular concerts like you can tell in advance if a venue is dicey, y'know. by the time you find out the guy putting out MegaAwesomeFest2019 is actually a grifter, you're already fucked.

Message To Love, the documentary about the 1970 Isle Of Wight festival is worth checking out for some vintage promoter-out-of-his-depth action.

I don't really get the Coachella style fests, like Maryland Death or Big Ears or Milwaukee Psych are cool in that there's definitely an aesthetic but like oh hey do you like music? stand in a field and see Liam Gallagher and Schoolboy Q and Baroness and Ariana Grande and Skrillex and a Slint reunion I don't get

i went to acl once and it was after it had rained and it was one of the most miserable experience of my life

mud and austin ppl and $4 waters and a bunch of bands that i kiiiiinda like maybe a song or two by plus parking way the fuck out somewhere yuuuuuuuuuck

Bim's whole thread here is good value.

i'm 5 mins in and i already know this guy is good value pic.twitter.com/iC8MiGyKlm

— Bim Adewunmi (@bimadew) January 20, 2019

otm, bim is the best

holy fucking shit i haven't seen these docs yet but I worked for Andy K1ng in '97 for 4 months. just a 3 person office running his event planning service from a loft on prince st.

I don't really get the Coachella style fests, like Maryland Death or Big Ears or Milwaukee Psych are cool in that there's definitely an aesthetic but like oh hey do you like music? stand in a field and see Liam Gallagher and Schoolboy Q and Baroness and Ariana Grande and Skrillex and a Slint reunion I don't get

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, January 19, 2019 10:34 PM (thirty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah my wife and i were talking about this tonite actually in the context of the fyre docs and the stupid generic fest that happens near us...check out this lineup...i do think there are a lot of people who value "live music" and/or "live music on a big stage" over, like, what that music actually is. we know ppl who go to this fest and they have no aesthetic to speak of in comparison to picky nerds like myself who are all "well i liked their first two records but not crazy about the new one" or my wife who is basically like "i'll leave the house for mbv 1992 or massive attack 1998."

Twenty Travis Tame

xxp — RVW, you may (or may not) want to avoid the Netflix doc.....