Would you attend a music festival without...

Sure, but I'm not really  a fan of festivals. Congrats on your lp Anniversary 

People will cheat.

Do mushrooms count as drugs?

The draw for me is, and always has been, the music. There is a good chance I'll  go if it's a band that I or my son want to see

emphatically no.

Where might this virtue signaling festival take place?

Vodka soaked tampons in the lot.

Of course, but since so few of them supply the goods for free, I'm always sure to come well stocked.

Or

Not sure, never tried. Haven't reached that point of life.  Just the thought of not indulging in drugs or alcohol at a gathering of the tribes, God forbid. 

Nice job on total sobriety man, I don't think I have the self discipline.

If I told you what it takes
To reach the highest high
You'd laugh and say 'nothing's that simple'

I'm okay with being sober - it's the festival part that I'm not a fan of. I'm done with Live Nation, Ticketmaster, Stadiums and Professional Sportsing Arenas.

I saw Vince Herman and Drew Emmit in a nice small, local, less than 200 person capacity venue on Monday night. That was fun.

I think you deserve big time congratulations on your achievement. Much respect, T. Maybe THAT'S why your beautiful pics are always framed well and in focus!   

Not sure about the gathering.

I’m with ya, sober for over a decade, festival free for even longer. I don’t know which would give me a bigger headache 

I started doing festivals to get away from sheds and the corporations.

Unfortunately they stalked me to the festivals.

The numbers of people that have no courtesy for others seems to have gone up.

Oh yes, please get there early and throw down a dozen tarps for you group campsite.

Oh yes, yes, yes, please leave that bright white light on all night.

And yes, at 2 AM please play a 70's classic rock song on your big speaker.

No need to respect the musicians playing a quiet acoustic set on stage about thirty yards away.

The baseline draw is the music. Music sweet music.

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I think there already festivals like this, for Christian music.

I'm still a bit lost every August since the Gathering Of The Vibes went belly up. 

Jerry's Birthday was always celebrated in fine style. 

Got tix to Dead n Co at the Meadowlands this summer on Jerry's Birthday. I'm sure they'll have some special goods to give

I haven't seen Bob Weir since 1994. I would definitely need some substance to see him today!!

So no caffeine, nicotine or refined sugars too?

This could be a catchy thing in Utah.

im not a festival guy, but a sober music festival with great music sounds like a fine idea, but TBH i dont know if a jamband type festival would really work under a sober designation.

if a normal jamband with any kind of following or fanbase announces they will be at this festival, their own fans, who probably want to take drugs or at least smoke weed, will show up, and likely will not respect the sober theme - we've been conditioned to ignore those rules. every concert we go to has a no drugs rule, and its become second nature for most of us to ignore it without a second thought. maybe a few will recognize that in this case, real genuine fans who want and need to be sober have put that rule into place and it would be kinda shitty to break them, but id assume it would not even cross the minds of most folks and they would bring weed and whatever other drugs they like to take at shows. then animosity is created between those who have been drawn in by a specific band or something like that and those who are there as sober people attending a sober event.

i dont see this being an issue with any genres besides jambands. maybe trance.

my attendance is a moot point - taking L at shows is my religion and i dont even go to festivals on drugs. just a concern i would have if jamband types are being considered for the lineup. 

>>So no caffeine, nicotine or refined sugars too?

Refined sugars might be  abridge too far - but this is an interesting point.

>>It wouldn't be that sort of festival. Think on the small side. The max in my mind would be low thousands, if that. It could be under 1k. 

I like that size. I also like your taste in music - so please keep me in the loop.

>>>Refined sugars might be  abridge too far 

No kidding, they're really hard to avoid, much less kick.

I'd do a festival like this if they did away with the nicotine and caffeine.  

I managed a coffee house in Eureka, California in the mid-90s for a couple who had met in Narcotics Anonymous.  Their NA pals would come to the cafe, get overcaffeinated, over-sugared, chain smoke cigarettes and narcissistically blather on for hours.  They would waive their banner loud and high about how many years they'd been clean and sober when they had clearly not dealt with the root of their addictive personality disorders.

^ Seems to be a common and reoccurring theme with AA and coffee houses.

What about VIP, surely there are some who are addicted to said "credentials"?

Wow, congrats on 33 yrs Ski Furthur! Long time to be better. I'm coming up on 18 months. Been taking my time this time. Day by day.

I think there are enough sober music fans out there that it would work.  If it was promoted as a sober fest, it would probably turn off the people looking to get loaded.   And there are many sober musicians out there, including big names like Eric Clapton, who would probably be on board with the concept.

you can go to an acoustic folk show at McCabe's in Santa Monica, about the closest you will get....

I love shows without alcohol since I really don't like the agro vibe that often accompanies drinking. One of my most favorite shows was Bob Dylan and his band at a no alcohol show at the EMU Ballroom, U of O, 1999. It was a fine show in peaceful surroundings. People were going outside to smoke whatever they were smoking.

I don't care if I do or don't do drugs at a show, so that wouldn't make a difference in my attending.

Congrats, Tony, and your celebration idea could really be fun. Do it!

I've just about stopped going out to hear music . The "bigger" shows I'd want to see sell out before tickets go on sale. The mid sized venues ie Beacon the "fans" either talk non stop or are too busy texting and the phone light is annoying. And I'm not talking kids on phones, in '18 I went to see Tuna at the Beacon the guy next to me was older than me and I'm old was on the phone the entire first set. Finally I had enough and asked him to stop , the people behind me said thx so he got the message. As for smaller places they have either moved to Brooklyn or start at 10 or 11 pm, really? Yeah I'm retired but that's kind of late to be going out at age 67

sorry to rant just and old man who misses live music

Bob Mould he's sober.

moved to Berlin soon as trump stole the election (his words live)

I don't think he care's what others are doing, workin his own shit.

how much is it important to you that the bands are sober?

Thread topic , question answer in short.  No.

At this moment. Personally speaking of course. 

Didn't Minor Threat and the whole Straight Edge Hardcore Punk scene involve not drinking or doing drugs?  They were pretty hardcore about Veganism too.  Didn't wear any leather products.

>>>>Didn't Minor Threat and the whole Straight Edge Hardcore Punk scene involve not drinking or doing drugs? 

I knew some kids in that whole Straight Edge scene.  They didn't drink or do drugs, but hung out with people who did, weren't vegan, and liked to get into fights.   Saw a mugshot of one of them not too long ago in the paper.  He got arrested for punching a proud boy at one of the demonstrations downtown.

I mostly eat vegan and sometimes go to a punk/metal bar called Black Water after work.  All vegan menu but they also serve beer and liquor.

Trey has been sober for years, but I don't know if he would be into a fest where people couldn't get high if they wanted.

As for smaller places they have either moved to Brooklyn or start at 10 or 11 pm, really?

Have I got a show for you?

On Phil's birthday, I'm going to a show with a 3PM start.

Never mind; wrong borough.

Kenny White/3/15/3PM

Hamilton Park House Concerts  -  https://www.hamiltonparkhouseconcerts.com/

Cyberspace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF405LU2ZmQ&list=RDdF405LU2ZmQ&start_rad...

So home-brewed Vegan moonshine would be acceptable,  correct?
Asking for a Friend :)

It would be Vegan and Organic

I would probably show up if Dogs are allowed,  even if Moonshine is considered contraband.

Would you really want to see Wolf Brothers sober!?

At this point in my life, I'm single and I think I would if I knew I had a sex partner for the weekend.  Gotta get some sort of vice in over the course of the weekend.  I think it would also depend on my connection to the music/artists of the festival.  

Congrats on your sobriety.  Next week is 7 years of no alcohol for me- it's something I continue to take pride in.  I smoke weed probably more than most people but definitely not as much as I used to.  I find myself weighing broccoli more than weed these days ^___^

>>>>>Next week is 7 years of no alcohol for me- it's something I continue to take pride in.  I smoke weed probably more than most people

I know way more people who quit drinking alcohol but still smoke herb than people who don't do either.

I love shows without alcohol since I really don't like the agro vibe that often accompanies drinking.

me too judit. that was my favorite part about some of the weird community center type off brand venues DNB was playing 4 or 5 years back - some of them had no alcohol available. i love walking into a venue and realizing there is no bar or alcohol being sold. its like im a kid opening a present on christmas morning. the worst is the nightclub-esque venues in SF that have waiters roaming the dance floor, bringing trays of alcohol tru the dance floor and stopping in the middle to hand out drinks and take payments. ugh.

and skifurthur - dont listen to the "well what about cigs and sugar" snide concerns - most folks here know id be the first one to write up some absurdly long post detailing mountains of peer reviewed evidence on why those things should count as drugs just as much as anything else - and i could - but everyone knows the AA/NA model of sobriety + lots of coffee and cigs, and for all the pitfalls of the AA/NA program, the fact is that it works wonders for many people, and not only is the use of coffee and cigs allowed for, but there is a rich tradition of psychedelics within AA/NA that goes all the way back to its founder, bill wilson, and even goes past bill and the founding of AA/NA - bills grandfather conquered his alcoholism after a psilocybin experience, i think before AA/NA was even founded. bill went on to have a spiritual experience on deleriant tropane alkaloids while undergoing what at the time was called "the belladonna cure", and later famously went on to experiment with LSD, and advocate its use to some alcoholics. there are still many small groups of people within regional AA/NA groups, that very quietly and privately, use psychedelics together within the context of the AA/NA program.

when one day you are destroying your life and on the edge, and something has helped you crawl back, the definition of "a drug" or "sobriety" as it applies to stuff like coffe and cigs is pretty insignificant.

I always felt the cig & coffee addicted NA crowd would benefit from psychedelics to help them break through their addictive natures.  

There was another regular at that coffee house in Eureka, that got a cup of coffee every morning and would sit silently and read a book for 20 minutes, sometimes get a refill and go off to his job as an auto-mechanic.  He heard me and my colleagues talking about the loud-mouthed, no-tip, OCD afflicted NA crowd and told us that he was in AA, and while no one was perfect, going to meetings had saved his life and saved others (then, like always, he threw a dollar in the tip jar).

I get that.  Everybody has to figure how to deal with their demons.  For some, it's tougher than others.

Not being snide, just being real.  The coffee and cigarettes crowd isn't my scene regardless if it's a sober event or not.

I do like non-alcohol events.  The Stilaguamish Tribe has their annual pow-wow called The Festival Of The River the first weekend of August at a County Park up near Arlington about an hour north of Seattle.   Free to the public for the cost of parking your car.  They have a big stage set up with pro sound, lights and video and have some big national acts.  I've seen The Neville Brothers, Little Feat, Mickey Hart, Dr. John, The English Beat, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and others there.  They have it in the park because there is no alcohol allowed there.   They have a methadone tent set up so opiate addicts don't have to leave the grounds.  This is their big annual pow-wow, and there are members of the tribe that would leave if they couldn't get a fix.  

People still smoked weed and I saw a few folks sneaking drinks, but it us mostly alcohol free and a pleasant vibe.

So maybe just an alcohol free event is best to shoot for.

Q / A: yes I would

congrats on your course correction.

i like LIVE music ( not full time texters/ cellphoners  or chatterers ).

there are times the effort to make it happen can be taxing - but i almost always feel it was worth it

( and god bless the DNB smaller / odder at times approach )

and yes, I have approached inebriation at some shows 

 i do love smiles and most dancers tho...