So not quite free...but ended up getting a 2 day pass for $30
Weather was great and a great venue for a festival
since I could bike, I was a happy camper (if it had been at MPP/Lube/Bull Run/Pilmico I wouldn't even considered going)
was cool that they let you bring kids under 10 in for free
brought my girls and left them unattended for hours on Sat (just kidding) they did have a nice 'tag your kid' feature, which gives them a wristband with a chip/barcode so in the event they get lost, I get a call and the staff immediately knows who they are
With that said, the kids area was pretty weak.
They did get tats and a punk rock hair do
.
Only redeeming part was I did catch half of Ex-Hex (from a considerable distance...but the sound wasn't horrible)
They should have had a Kid's stage with a few artists who they could have paid peanuts for the exposure
Also I didn't take advantage of it, the whole you can leave and enter 3 times a day, was really a great concept.
Especially if you came with kids, you could stay for a few acts and then take them home (or meet a caretaker outside to pick them up)
Beer- $8 for a tall boy of Miller Lite or Coors Lite - $6 for blue moon and then they had some cider options. I know MillerCoors has never been associated with good beer, but they could have had Peroni or Pilsner Urquel or Henry Weinhard's ...you know and they could have easily charged $10 and people would have paid.
They really should have had a tent for ID check and the coffee/soda should have also been in a different tent
The cashless wrist band was a great idea, but at least two times it didn't work when I got there
Food options were quite good for a fest IMO
The water stations were a great idea and glad they encouraged people to bring their own bottles. I did think it was odd that they had 'bartenders' for the water filling. Do they not think that people could be trusted to fill their own bottle? Probably 50 people filling water bottles? Did they pay those people?
Bathrooms...thank god it wasn't 90 degrees as those portajohns would have been unbearable. Still not sure why they don't set up trough's for the guys at these shows. Would be sooo much easier on all levels IMO. Going to have to come up with the 'port-a-trough'...I'll make millions!
Music -
The first day, I caught a little Ex-Hex and was bummed I didn't get up front to catch more. Sounds like they were one of the best of the day. Caught 1/2 of the Hunts set and that was Meh
I did enjoy the Mowgils, but then again, my kids are really into them, so that had a lot to do with it. Dancing and singing along They are a great festival act, lots of sing-a-long songs that Az loves
Daughter sounded good, but
that was it for me on Saturday. Big regret was missing London Souls.
Day two...came kidless
Caught some of Dr John as I parked my bike and entered the grounds. Shame he got such a lame timeslot. (I was told the Hiss Gold mess was great during the same slot)
Houndmouth was good fun and one of the artists I was really looking forward to seeing. Sedona and For No One sounded awesome. Normally I'd put 'runaround sue' cover as a lame pick to close a set, but they did a great rendition giving all four of the band members a turn at a different verse. I thought it was great and really amped up the crowd.
Thanks to the Kozmo reco, the Sufferes were one of the best acts I caught this weekend.
They just blew the crowd away right as they opened their set. Rocking an extended version of Make Some Room and we were instructed "when some one offers to make you as Sandwich...there really is only one answer" The BMI stage wasn't full at that point, but everyone in the room was getting down. Gawn was another show stealing rave up of a song that has such an infectious groove. Kam Franklin is just a great front woman with some serious pipes. Band was tight!
Caught first part of The Joy Formidable and I was really enjoying it. Loud as heck and IMO not a great fest act, would have been great at the club.
Alas, friends wanted to catch TV on the Radio. So we headed over there for the end of their set. They were fun and energetic, but I wasn't loving it. I just don't know their music at all.
Good thing was I was right there for the Dan Deacon set. that was some fun festival music. Lot of nob twirling, but he really got the crowd going. Sadly he has a face made for radio
Even though I was enjoying DD, it was getting a little repetitive, so I made it for the second half of Chromeo. They brought it! That was a fun set, by an artist I know nothing about.
I was excited that Alt-J was playing and had zero interested in George Ezra. Every other freckle was a great song to kick off the set. They are really a boring band to watch live. Sound was really mixed well and the songs all sounded good. But after the last 4 acts, they seemed very stiff. I think I've reached 'peak Alt-J' at this point
Boots was interesting, but not really something I loved. only caught a few songs
Kept going back and forth on staying for the Strokes and decide to go see Red Baraat and that was a catchy jump around set.
I felt like I was ending on a high note and decided to punt on the Strokes as I was exhausted from being on my feet all day.
All in all, I had a good time. Not sure I would have been happy about paying $175 for a ticket.
but I hope they do it again next year
It was a good capacity for the fest too. I think if they had a different line up, it would have be a lot more packed.
I noticed that they had some printed material that had the Lincoln stage listed as the Volkswagen stage.
But with all the bad press and the fest trying to be 'green' they must have dropped the sponsership
