Your Experience

[Zen_Arcade]

Come on guys! I wanna hear it. I wanna hear it alllllll. Good, bad, in between! Who had the best sets of the weekend? The worst?

[mattstyx13]

It was my best hof yet. My top five was Outkast, Fitz and the Tantrums, Black Keys, Jack Johnson, and Childish Gambino. Worst part was Whiz Khalifa. Best part was meeting Big Boi the next day at Cracker Barrel in Pensacola. He was gracious enough to take a pic with my group!

[bucsvspats]

Queens, Fitz, Outkast, The Killers & Capital Cities were the best for me! Wiz's sound was awful but it looked like he was getting it in.
Also, Childish Gambino in the tent was not a good idea IMO. Too many people tryin to see him. I'm sure it was the same way for Tribe & Pretty Lights.
Another thing I noticed was that there were obviously more people there than last year but the amount of people not interested in the music was disappointing. It was like they were more worried about being seen by everyone else. Some of the sound mixes were off but regardless I bet I could've heard the performer better without a bunch of drunk college kids talking about who's tan looked the best.

[mattstyx13]

I agree with BvP. I noticed the increase of 5000 people and had to "politely" ask the sorority girls and frat boys to be quiet at a few different shows. I think the molly they were obviously on prompted a lot of their conversation.

[Zen_Arcade]

A friend of mine who went told me that three people next to her did cocaine off their arms while waiting for The Killers.

[bucsvspats]

"Sorority Girls and Frat Boys" hit the nail right on top of the head. They could've had the same expereince at one of their college gatherings and let more real music lovers enjoy the festival. The atmosphere has kind went downhill :/
They're treating it like it's their second spring break. Don't get me wrong, I partied my ass off BUT I am a music lover first.

[jackiepapers]

best festival experience i've ever had...by far. and i've been fortunate to attend some amazing festivals.

for anyone on the fence re: the value of vip, i can assure you it is worth every extra penny.

tuesday, other than the killers cutting their show a bit short, was the best continuous stretch of music i've ever seen at a festival.

needtobreathe -> alo -> amos lee (the gospel choir + boyz to men "end of the road" cover was SICK) -> trombone shorty (top 2/3 set all wknd) -> modest mouse (ripped sht) -> fitz & the tantrums (another top 2/3) -> killers. not a single bad set in the group and all were well above average.

also really enjoyed wild cub & st. paul and the broken bones on bmi stage, sts9 was filthy on friday, we got a great outkast performance and cap cities did their standard fun late afternoon set. josh farrow & soja early on sunday on main stage were perfect with a cold vodka drink in your hand and your feet in the pool.

ran into a friend of the friend i was with and she got us up to supervip backstage during portugal. the man. spencer ludwig (trumpet) from cap cities came over to close out their set was really well done.

gary clark jr. was his usual bad a$$ self, and funny enough but my friend and i actually though wiz was way better than we expected. maybe the sound was better off to vip side i don't know he sounded fine and w/ a live band i thought i was better than a dj set.

[sparkysarah]

Just got home a little while ago and I'm exhausted! BUT, I promise a full review tomorrow.

I will repeat what jackiepapers said above - the value of VIP is worth it at this festival.

[beachbob]

Five in a row and had a great time. Hung out with some of the old regulars and a few new folks. Who you hang out with makes a big difference. There were times I wanted to strangle a few people who were a) out of their heads on something, b) didn't give a flip about anyone but themselves, c) who knows.  Running through the crowd 5 minutes before a headliner kicking people sitting on the ground in the head and whatever was the only thing that really got my goat. Oh well...

Best performance for me was Amos Lee...incredible artist, band, backup, song selection, and I was up front and close. Next would be Gary Clark Jr and then Blackberry Smoke. Modest Mouse, Outkast, Meh.... Did like the Black Keys and Killers.  The fire Marshall kept us from seeing Moon Taxi...biggest bummer of the show with Jack Johnson's failed sound system being #2.  Enjoyed the heck out of a lot of second tier groups who played their butts off like Dumpstaphunk, Los Colognes, Black Cadillacs, Iron and Wine, Ozomatli, Shakey Graves, The Wans and Dugas.  Even Valerie June threw it down.   Hated to miss so many shows, but just impossible to cover all.  

I scoped the VIP and for $169 and Island Winds condo....have no desire whatsoever to trade for VIP. To each his own. Something about wearing titles like VIP that gives me a bad feeling. I just like to be one of the crowd. Again, I enjoyed every performer I saw, some a little more than others, and appreciate the opportunity to do it again. I do have my tickets (2) and condo for 2015...hope Red Mountain or whoever can get Tedeschi-Trucks, Eric Clapton, Santana, or other popular jamming bands on stage next year.   Would like to see Jason Isbell and Moon Taxi back on a lot bigger stage.   Next time Amos Lee visits...Headliner...book it!

Oh...one more thing.  The fireworks made a mess on the beach and as of my departure this morning, still had fuse wires, cardboards parts, etc littered all up and down the beach.  I noticed the bigger crowd as well as a heck of a lot longer and not so well organized clean up.  Someone who would know told me the city has tabled the four year extension.  Hope the folks can get it together so we can keep enjoying the music along with clean beaches and peaceful, music loving crowds.

[beachbob]

I waited for folks at the Red Bull Hangout Stage before Dugas, but didn't run into anyone from the Board. Maybe next year. Loved the hammocks! Closest thing to a chair! Beach access was overplayed. Big advertising thing for e-cigs and chevy. t-shirts are getting better (kudos). I am not an EDM fan, but my friends were and the Girl Talk show on Thursday night was a hoot. 90% of what they played was from my high school year with a THUMP here and there and a verse missing...LOL...and someone said "we want young music and not that old stuff".....and then they listen to outkast and girl talk replay all the hits from the 70s and 80s or say something you couldn't say around my house growing up.... LOLOLOLOL. See yall next year!

[Zen_Arcade]

I'm ready to debate 2015!

[bucsvspats]

Yeah Wiz has really stepped his game up with the live band! Way better than a dj set!

[um2020]

Trombone Shorty killed it and was my favorite. ALO & SOJA were also excellent. Gary Clark Jr, was good as usual.

[sparkysarah]

This was the best Hangout! Despite everyone else's complaints, we had a wonderful time.

Thursday was Magic Man/Bleachers/Bombay Bicycle Club/a small bit of Wolfmother. We got too drunk to stay for Girl Talk (Damn you, delicious IPA!) We tried to get some free Pizza Hut pizza to soak up the alcohol, but it was some BBQ crap I couldn't eat. We ended up going to the condo early to sleep the drunk off. I was most impressed with Bombay Bicycle Club, but enjoyed Bleachers and their Tom Petty cover.

Friday was Ozomatli/Black Lips/Balkan Beat Box/Valerie June-Ingrid Michaelson/Dawes/Gary Clark Jr./QotSA/Black Keys. We LOVED Ozomatli's and Balkan Beat Box's sets! Ingrid Michaelson's polka version of "You & I" was adorable. Dawes/Clark/QotSA were all solid sets that had us rocking. TBK could have used a few more older songs in their set list, but overall, we were pretty satisfied.

Saturday was RDGLDGRN/Little Green Cars/Shakey Graves-SpaceFace(?)/Amos Lee/Trombone Shorty/Modest Mouse/Flaming Lips/Killers. RDGLDGRN and Little Green Cars were fantastic! I'm a huge fan now. Shakey Graves was great, but we were melting on the hot asphalt during that time slot (How do you GAs do it??) and decided to check out The Flaming Lips side band. They were decent. I don't know if it was because we just ate and were standing in a cool pool, but Amos Lee almost put us to sleep. Modest Mouse and the Flaming Lips were the best sets of the day! The Killers flippin' rocked too. We left at the encore to get situated for fireworks on the balcony. We could still hear the songs fine, so it worked out.

Sunday started late because we were trying to buy loyalty tickets. It was Soja/Reignwolf/Capital Cities from the balcony/Portugal, the Man/St. Paul & the Broken Bones/Andrew W.K./Outkast. Soja was very political, but I liked the "Fuck BP!" song they opened with! Reignwolf should have been a Mainstage/Chevy Stage act, IMHO. We had a blast and Portugal, the Man and St. Paul & the Broken Bones! I've seen them before and they never disappoint. Outkast was AMAZING! We left Andrew W.K. early to camp out decent spots in VIP, near the partition. We danced our asses off!

VIP is totally worth it to us. Not having to worry about carrying large amounts of cash for food and booze is a plus. Having cool pools to dip into during those acts in the heat of the day is a lifesaver. All of the shade in the Grove and to the side of the Chevy Stage kept us going too. The boyfriend and I are very pale, so we appreciate all the shade we can get! Also, I know some people were complaining about bad sound at the Chevy Stage, but that wasn't the experience in VIP.

The several thousand additional people was noticeable, but it wasn't an issue until leaving at the end of the night. Having that bank of smelly port-a-johns right at the turn onto Beach Blvd. made the crowd even more noticeable! LOL I don't see how Hangout can expand numbers next year without significantly widening the footprint and changing the staggering of the sets - it's the only way they can accommodate a crowd over 40k, in my opinion.

The crowd this year was fairly young and college age - lots of frat guys and sorority girls. I haven't decided if I preferred them over the hippie jam band fans of the previous year. They're both kind of annoying. *shrugs* The crowd wasn't as stinky this year, so there's that. :-P

Overall, it was a great weekend! We have our tickets for next year and the condo is booked! I talked to many people throughout the weekend, some from the other side of the country, and they all come to Hangout because there's nothing like the setting, lineup, and southern hospitality. That gives me confidence that this festival is here to stay. Thanks for another great one and I can't wait to speculate about 2015!

[beachbob]

Glad you had a great time Sarah! I'm booked and got tix too. Agree this is the best venue-festival around. I am one of those older people who like hippie jam music and tough as nails so no problem with GA. I am glad they have pools for you to dip in between shows! The fireworks the last night, I left early too, were awesome from my 3rd floor Island Wind condo deck. I could feel the building shake. Cheers and maybe we can get together next Hangout.