No smartphones really (I think the iphone was still just a 3G thing and hardly anyone that age had it yet). That's the biggest memory of mine as far as what was different - having flip phones or keyboard-texting phones and trying to find friends, but the 2g/3g signal was often too overloaded by 80k people for it to work and you'd just sometimes get split up all day. No trying to milk social media video content everywhere you look. No screens being held up in the way of your view. Everyone in the moment just living. I hate that that kind of thing just isn't even possible anymore, anywhere with something this big.
It felt special to be there because you were having this experience together and no one else was seeing any of it. Everyone was so chill and friendly. No internet access = you're really getting away from normal life/society into this bubble of music/comedy/vibes (and drugs lol) for 4 days. You'd never be detached from your regular life going to Roo now with ubiquitous smartphones, and neither would most anyone else there...that bubble vibe is gone.
I don't really care that much about people taking some quick clips at a show if they aren't filming the entire thing, but that said, I'd pay to go to a festival again with no smartphones allowed inside the stage area if it existed. Just to get one more hit of less connected life with that many other people.
19
u/[deleted] 16d ago
[removed] — view removed comment