I'm an oldie, and a festival veteran that has seen once great events get hijacked by the rich and gentrified. Even Burning Man is now a cabal of trust fund kids desperate to prove that their inherited wealth isn't the reason for Global Warming, because they got there in a pig poop powered bus and have a Celtic tattoo. Glastonbury is now about which fashion designer made your wellington boots.
Getting covered in mud, rained out, wind swept, sun burnt, dehydrated, not eating for 2 days were part of the experience. One thing you could rely on was that fellow festival goers would help out if you needed it, there was always a sense of camaraderie. Even the original Woodstock, a living hell, was turned into one of the greatest ever experiences because of the love shown to each other by total strangers. The common factor back in the day was that these festivals had grown from nothing, were organic, the bad ones died off, the good ones grew.
Not FYRE, my God, not even close.
The more I watched this doc' the more vindicated I felt about my own views of what the festival scene has become. It's now riddled with fakers, fraudsters, wannabes, poseurs, social media addicts and worst of all...people that don't even love music, just themselves and their Instagram accounts.
From the beginning, although I have no conclusive evidence, I suspect cocaine was a huge factor. Macho Alpha's trying to out snort each other and construct more elaborate party schemes to promote an app' until they ended up with FYRE. Surely buying Pablo Escobar's island, and then promoting it as such is a clue? (The festival was on that particular island until cancelled by PE's lawyer after FYRE used his name).
The oneness and kinship often displayed at other festivals in the past when things got tough was missing here. The slightest adversity turned 5,000 socialites into a baying mob that turned on each other for toilet roll. Imagine Lord Of The Flies but without the rescue at the end? Welcome to FYRE on day 1, day 1 !!! In all of my time I've never heard the cry 'Where's my villa'?! You were lucky if you had a 2 person tent and it was definitely a luxury. FYRE had large domed tents with beds and mattresses in, but just weren't good enough, apparently. As organisers fled the blood thirsty, vengeful mob and unpaid contractors we're left looking at the wreckage and an island ripped of by rich guys yet again.
This is a story of greed, machismo, hype, fakery and blatant fraud. But also a moral tale. Karma does exist and it really doesn't care how much money you have.
I laughed so much I'm about to watch this again. It's my new happy place.
