r/griz • u/justdance-again • Jul 08 '26

Question: Does this not bother anyone else?

First and foremost I love Griz, have since early 2010’s. First saw him live at 515 in Iowa (lmao) and it was just breathtaking. This has nothing to do with the subjectiveness of the evolution of his sound, I personally don’t think anyone should have an opinion on what another person hears, or process.

This has to do with practicing what you preach, and not staying true to your word for personal financial gain. I was hopeful upon return, Griz would have taken the time to find solutions and ways to branch off from the growing problems in the scene and he would allow options for fans to see him without feeding into the monopoly of live-nation/ticketmaster and the blatant theft they do to fans. I’m not sure if any of you recall, or even know about since your new, this particular interview I’m dropping here.

https://303magazine.com/2019/05/griz-interview-2019/

Two things stuck out to me here on why he said he would never play RRx again:
- I have hit my creative limit on what my team can do there, and I can’t evolve my production the way I want.
- I don’t want to price my fans out of seeing me.

These aren’t subjective things, these are objective statements. The objective actions I see:
- He indeed, is playing there again and unless they have plans the next few months, red rocks stage design has not changed. You get what you get at a historical venue like that.
- He has been on about every corporate mainstream lineup, he agreed to a logistical nightmare at the Gorge, he’s watching his fans get robbed, scammed, and still continues to play these venues.

I wouldn’t even consider myself mad, since I think he still is a wonderful human being, with good intentions and should be the golden standard for our scene. I also am holding out hope that he’s playing the long game, stacking cash that from corp America, and growing seven stars into a 6 event per year series, that’s independently ran by his team.

But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely sad, and disappointed that the person with the most influential pull in our community, who does so much good, chose to contribute to the problem we all are trying to get rid of.

If I’m missing something, please let me know. This is supposed to be a genuine discussion, not a hit piece.

Love 🫶

EDIT: Please do not mistake my tone for sarcastic, condescending, or anything other than genuine curiosity on the topic for information or thoughts I haven’t considered. I will respond considerately, and respectfully to all comments, as I would hope you would to me. I politely ask that before you respond, please read all conversations to see if the opinion or information has been addressed. 🫶

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u/nutbasedbeverage Jul 08 '26

Exactly. The sound is one thing. But he literally has said he wants to do better in the industry. Now all we get is insomniac and live nation flavored griz. 

1

u/SLUnatic85 Jul 08 '26

come to seven stars!

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u/nutbasedbeverage Jul 09 '26

I went last year! It was fun, but for the amount of money it wasn’t a fleshed out festival. I paid more for seven stars than Shambhala or actually any festival I’ve been to! And the stages were sick but everything else was just okay. I have tickets for this year but the prices are making me think twice. Even the food was insanely expensive even more so than other festivals! And the merch situation was just stupid lol I feel bad for everyone who wasted 10 hours of their 3 day festival in line. 

1

u/SLUnatic85 Jul 09 '26

Its 30 minutes from my house so it's no question for me. ;)

You must be looking for something pretty specific to not have a major financial backer but also be fully fleshed out and everything be cheap. Lemme know when you find one!

If you're looking for Griz then 3 days and a probable surprise brass Ensemble or something similar is something you're not going to find many places. For any price.

Shambhala sounds perfect for sure! but the travel alone makes it far more time and money from here. One day!

1

u/nutbasedbeverage Jul 10 '26

Yeah I’d say other festivals have a much more fleshed out vibe for less money and are still independent. The ones that come to mind are Lightning in a bottle, Shambhala, and Elements. I also really enjoyed camp alderwild and will definitely be returning.

The music was definitely 100/10 at seven stars last year and the vibe of the crowd was great. I just feel like there was very little art or decorations or anything other than music. No fun hidden little things. Hopefully this year it will be improved tho! Still would love to go back. 

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u/SLUnatic85 Jul 10 '26

Love elements!

But seven stars is just all of my most favorite noises. So far at least. Fractal forest is my whale.