Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by layingblames on Jun 18, 2007 19:09:35 GMT -5
me too. who can i write letters to?
first there was the ridiculous line at the holiday inn - where they only had one conference room and 4-5 people checking in the line that slowly started wrapping around the parking lot. AND the guy wandering around with a power trip, who once said, "those of you w/ guest passes, follow me. the rest of you: enjoy your wait!" anyone know who this was? seemed to be running the show? i hated him.
then! the line waiting to get into the camping was insane, after already waiting 2.5 hours. i talked to a few people - the staff girl who got her truck stuck in the gravel and a medical guy. both said it was because it was because someone fucked up the directions, so they had both VIP and vendor/medical/staff vehicles on the same road. this isn't the first year they have had a bonnaroo. sooo...what's the deal?
i think the main things for these first two items were the lack of communication. we are people, and not just a herd of cattle. if the nuts is starting to hit the fan, let us know. tell the people waiting in line at the holiday inn to put on sunblock, because it will be a wait. god forbid, tell the people waiting in cars to gain access to festival grounds that someone fucked up the directions and that they are sorry for the wait.
just say i'm sorry. or just tell us what's happening. instead, i'm left thinking that this year was sloppily put together, and more focused on making money than making an experience.
food and lines were terrible. beer going up in price sucked. near-riots from people trying to enter the festival grounds from the VIP entrance, and then eventually just storming through. what did we pay for, if that entrance wasn't available until half-way through the day?
security. no glass, unless you hiked. "shakedown" becoming part of "the man's" turf - saw some guy lay out some tiedye to sell and was busted immediately.
the crowd was sort of a letdown based off my impressions of last year. me going next year will really depend on the lineup, i'm sorry to say. or someone's response to the stern and angry letter i send!
/rant. ???
EDIT: Ashley Capps, founder of AC Entertainment: ashley@acentertainment.com
For SuperFly: Richard Goodstone / Sponsorship, event production and marketing projects: rich@superflypresents.com
[any other people you are contacting? PM or post, and i will update - hopefully in a timely fashion.]
Post by unplugdacusticaz on Jun 18, 2007 19:17:34 GMT -5
There were some drawbacks to the VIP, I'll admit it. We were getting kinda irked waiting in both lines for the VIP stuff.
However, the proximity alone was well worth it to me. Hell, I had a perfect view of the What Stage while sitting in my shade tent. It was amazing!
As for the food lines, the only time I saw those was when they just began serving the food, other than that. I just waltzed up and grabbed what I wanted.
I showered twice a day, that was great and I wasn't worn out by the end of the day because I didn't have to walk as much.
VIP has some stuff to work out, but to me, it was well worth it and the way I'm probaby going from now on! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your Bonnaroo experience.
But I've heard voices not in the head Out in the air they called ahead Through ripped out speakers Through thick and thin They found a shelter Under my skin -Evgeny Aleksandrovitch Nikolaev
What happens if my tee shot lands on a bird's back and he carries it out of bounds but then is attacked by a larger bird who grabs the ball and drops it in the hole? Is that still a hole in one? 'Cause that's how I'm gonna play it.
Did anyone else notice the VIP directions "From Chatanooga" on the yellow flyer were the exact same directions given to all festival traffic via signs and police directing traffic? Hopping off I-24 early to head in on Route 41 for about 10 miles, but EVERYbody was doing it, so the "confidential" VIP directions got us stuck in traffic for 2 hours.
I'm not really bitching or even upset about it... Any time you have 80,000 cramming into one place at one time, things are going to get hairy...
But it just seems odd that VIP got "confidential" directions that everyone else also got when approaching Manchester.
Post by divemistressofdark on Jun 18, 2007 20:34:32 GMT -5
Yeah, I got stuck in that too. The worst part was that I was trying to get to the Holiday Inn to get my credential, and didn't realize I was sitting in line with general admission traffic. Didn't find it out until the turnoff for General Admission, and was pretty irked when I realized I could have driven straight up 41 to the Holiday Inn without a wait. It would have been so easy for them to simply tell us how it was going to work.
Second issue was, upon arrival at VIP, being told that I wouldn't be allowed to day park in VIP despite having bought a hotel package through Bonnaroo. The guy checking me in told me I'd have to day park in General Admission. WTF? Services denied in VIP that are available in GA? The guy checking me in was probably Mr. "Enjoy Your Wait"; I did not enjoy his attitude.
Luckily some neighbors near the VIP entrance were renting out their front yard and it worked out pretty well, but I suspect I had a lot longer walk than many VIPers and didn't have access to a secure location to store food, clothing, etc without the walk I thought I had bought a VIP ticket to avoid. I would have simply driven in and picked out a campsite, but was concerned I'd be blocked in by other people parking behind me.
Went to the VIP Supervisor tent to find out what was up a bit later and was told I could take the shuttle service going to the hotels - wrong answer. Those shuttles were only for people who had prepaid some outfit called Target. Which I wasn't told about when buying my hotel package...it was on Bonnaroo.com but not at all clear that was the only way to get in and out of VIP on a daily basis.
Later I found out a few people did simply day park in VIP, but the miscommunication on this was really out of control, I thought.
On the upside: the food was great; no lines to get into Centeroo or the What Stage; somewhat shorter walk than the slog from GA. Terrific performances.
A little more downside, then I'll stop: the bleachers at Which Stage were unbelievably cramped. I felt like the guy in front of me was sitting in my lap.
the food really sucked. and there was never enough of it. errrrrrrr o well great time!
I actually thought a lot of it was pretty good. The chicken and fish were nice, much better than a lot of conference catered food I have had in hotels or conference centers. The spicy tofu and vegetable thing was really nice. The salad was always in good shape, and there were good vegetables with every meal.
Admittedly, the burgers were lame and pork is a bad choice for any catered event, but otherwise I thought quality was good.
Now quantity and organization were definitely a problem, no doubt.
But I've heard voices not in the head Out in the air they called ahead Through ripped out speakers Through thick and thin They found a shelter Under my skin -Evgeny Aleksandrovitch Nikolaev
Post by layingblames on Jun 18, 2007 21:15:05 GMT -5
unplugdacusticaz said:
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your Bonnaroo experience.
oh, i didn't have a horrible time or anything. the performances were great, and not having to leave my tent to hear the main stage perfectly rocked my socks off.
just irked that the VIP privileges did not meet what was promised. it was great not having to wait in security lines and bring in my own beers - whenever they decided to have the VIP entrance open.
oh, and did i mention how great it was to shower before leaving this morning, and not stopping on the drive home to take the truckstop shower like last year?
but i would like to share my disappointment with some aspects of the trip with people who can [hopefully] make necessary changes next year.
Post by sunflowergirl on Jun 18, 2007 21:31:57 GMT -5
Hey all, Im new to posting but a lurker for a while. I had VIP in 2004 and then again this year. I was disappointed myself with VIP - A lot of miscommunication I thought as well.
Im a pretty easy going girl so I just went with the flow but the whole not letting us through our enterance for a day, and during the FLIPS not having the bleachers!!
Also being a vegetarian, I have to agree the food went downhill. I was kind of irritated to have to buy food out in Centeroo when I paid for VIP. 2004 seemed logistically much better.
Dont get me wrong, I will go again, and Im pretty sure I would do VIP again but I just dont get the increase in price and the logistics going down hill.
PS- I agree with the directions being advertised on the highway electronic sign for everyone? Not a good call whomever did that one. IN 04 we were in in 1 hour (they gave you everything in the car on the way in) This year we had 1.5 hours in line getting the goods and then maybe another 1-2 hours in the car in line!
I did have a blast, got to meet great people too but when I saw this thread I thought I had to post too.
my pre-departure shower and quick exit to exit 114 on sunday night kinda made me disregard the long wait on thursday to get in.
There was some serious lack of communication, IMO. Not enough for me to be totally pissed about or rant on for hours. The catering sitch was a bit iffy, and I found myself glad to not be a vegetarian and have at least 1 or 2 options. They sold way more tickets than before AND expanded the land for VIP, and didn't seem to expand the accomodations and communication enough. Where I saw pictures of wide open spaces in years previous, I know this years' VIP was wall-to-wall with filled campsites, plus, those doing the parking didn't even take the time to direct RV's to one area and tents to another. Looking at the VIP section and thinking of the on-forum discussion that was had here, I'm wondering if that was intended all along, as there was no designated RV parking to begin with, even though from a logistics standpoint, it should not have been all that difficult. I talked to a few RV owners that really felt bad that they were surrounded by tenters, and were trying to run their generator at a minimum.
I felt bad for guys in line for an hour every morning to make their morning deposits. But the bathroom attendant was kind and attentive the whole time, and not shy about a "hello" and "everything ok?" in passing. We tipped him before we left.
About tipping. I dont' mind doing it. Hell I know these people are busting their ass. But I don't expect to see it for VIP bartenders, or any Centeroo foods people either. That seemed like a new thing, and not something I want to see again, as I am a generous person and tend to tip for karma's sake, but after a while it's like...you really want a tip for my $8 fried mushrooms? idon'tbethinkingso...
While there were some unexpected drawbacks that don't seem to have been an issue in years past, there were some bonuses in that we were close in proximity to Centeroo, I watched more than one show from the Beer tent, and made use of bleachers for long mid day sets. I had lots of room and a nice breeze, and overall, an excellent experience compared to my last trip in '05. I met some great folks and had great neighbors, and a lot of folks in VIP didn't hesitate to say hello when you pulled a chair up to a table in the VIP tent.
I was very sad when I saw them pull the ice cream cooler out after the first day. I wanted my strawberry crunch dammit!
I do have an e-mail in mind to send superfly, but I am going to wait until they are unbusy enough a bit to maybe pay attention to it. It won't be as scathing as some folks, I'm sure, as the pros of the situation greatly outweighed the negatives, as most negatives quickly washed away with that last shower. It was amazing.
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this
Hey all, Im new to posting but a lurker for a while. I had VIP in 2004 and then again this year. I was disappointed myself with VIP - A lot of miscommunication I thought as well.
Im a pretty easy going girl so I just went with the flow but the whole not letting us through our enterance for a day, and during the FLIPS not having the bleachers!!
Also being a vegetarian, I have to agree the food went downhill. I was kind of irritated to have to buy food out in Centeroo when I paid for VIP. 2004 seemed logistically much better.
Dont get me wrong, I will go again, and Im pretty sure I would do VIP again but I just dont get the increase in price and the logistics going down hill.
PS- I agree with the directions being advertised on the highway electronic sign for everyone? Not a good call whomever did that one. IN 04 we were in in 1 hour (they gave you everything in the car on the way in) This year we had 1.5 hours in line getting the goods and then maybe another 1-2 hours in the car in line!
I did have a blast, got to meet great people too but when I saw this thread I thought I had to post too.
I e-mailed ya too, but are you my neighbor? I didn't realize you were a vegetarian, I felt very bad for vegetarians and the lack of choice in food. mega hugs for still being so cheery, if you're the one I'm thinking of!
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this
I have no real complaints about VIP this year as opposed to last year. I felt the experience was pretty much the same, and maybe better in a few ways. The expanded VIP hospitality tent was a big plus. The lines were much much shorter this year. I never waited in line for the food for the entire weekend, where as in 2006 I was waiting in that line every time I went in there.
My only real thoughts on how to improve VIP would to be to add a bathroom for VIPers under the Mainstage Bleachers at the Mainstage Hospitality tent. I would also like to see a seperate VIP-only entrance to the comedy tent and the jazz tent. Other than that, I felt like I got what I paid for. I tried to stress to people on this board that VIP at bonnaroo is almost entirely about the proximity to centeroo, and having no security checkpoints with long lines going into centeroo. The rest of the VIP ammenities can be taken or left, imo. Sure they bleachers are a plus, the free food and drinks are always nice, having a shower everyone morning and a a/c bathroom helps gets you through the weekend, but none of them are worth the ticket price. The only thing that is worth the ticket price is knowing that you have a guaranteed spot that is outside the main stage where you can maximize your weekend adventures. That is to me, what VIP is all about.
Speaking of the drive in, did you guys notice that it (Exit 127) took us out into another county? I guess the neighboring counties are getting greedy too. Last year the VIP exit was right at the HIE (Exit 114). Okay, I can't think about this anymore. I had a great weekend and thinking about the VIP experience, compared to 2006's, is getting me out of my happy Roo mood.
Honestly, the food was a huge advantage to VIP for us. Even on Burger Day we were thrilled to have food, be able to eat when we wanted and as much as we wanted, and have a place to sit with our food. It meant a huge portion of our budget was paid in advance and we had almost zero food expenses at Bonnaroo as a result. The food, while sometimes questionable, was overall good, certainly always edible, and usually acceptably healthy with vegetables, salad, etc. Given how we were shoveling down food this weekend in the heat and with all the running around, we easily saved > $200 in food costs alone vs. buying it in Centeroo.
But yes, the ability to take a short stroll back to camp and grab some more frozen water from our cooler and stroll back with no security was $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Between my wife and I we drank four cases of bottled water over the weekend (well a little less as we gave away about a half a case). Having camp so close made it easy to keep putting our own cheap and ice cold water into my pack whenever we would run low.
But I've heard voices not in the head Out in the air they called ahead Through ripped out speakers Through thick and thin They found a shelter Under my skin -Evgeny Aleksandrovitch Nikolaev
I made the mistake of googling directions to the HIE. In the VIP directions, it gives an alternate route that avoids I-24 Exit 114 because it was closed. it wasn't until after I passed that exit that I even thought to look at the VIP directions. Then I ended up going down to exit 127, and coming back up Rt 41 in order to be able to get to the HIE. We came in Thursday morning.
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this
Layingblames, I am 100% with ya! While there were a number of positives I took away from this trip (some great music, cool people met), I'm sorry to say that the complete mismanagement of this festival will likely prevent me from ever returning.
Where to begin? After months of preparation, reading hundreds (thousands?) of Inforoo posts, etc., I felt like a Roo VIP veteran........and then came last Thursday, check-in day at the Holiday Inn.
What a complete, unmitigated disaster.
Got in about 9:45 AM, saw the crazy-ass line snaking out of the building (in addition to the 50-75 RV's crammed in all over the lot), and thought to myself, "WTF?!" This wasn't anything like I expected. I was lucky to find a place to wedge my car in to park, then got into line, in the already-sweltering heat.
After almost two hours (!) in that sun (with no one offering water or explanations), I finally get my bracelet, get back in my car, then get caught in the logjam of cars/RV's all trying to get out of the HIE! Those idiots at Superfly didn't even bother to arrange for a cop to direct traffic out of there. They never envisioned a problem with hundreds of vehicles attempting to make a left turn (no traffic light) onto an already-crammed street. After at least another two hours, they finally got a cop to direct traffic, and he simply made everyone go right, and get into the existing lines on Rt. 41.
Long story short.......didn't get set up until mid/late afternoon (so why did I even bother showing up early?), and after I began setting up camp in my spot (one that was surrounded by lots of other empty spots), all of a sudden RV's pulled up on either side of me. Each one was filled with about 8 frat boys, and each one opened up facing my camp site. Once again, another cluster-fuck by Superfly. Someone told me they had F'ed up the companion vehicle passes (if I remember correctly), and therefore ended up letting the Rv'ers mix in with the tenters. Not good.
Which leads me to the next thing that occurred: on the first night, I arrived back at my camp just as an massive RV was backing up on my "street," and HIT MY CAR!
Obviously, this wouldn't have happened, if the RV and tenters had been separate. And the rep who witnessed the accident was of no help, whatsoever. For that matter, was anyone helpful? Knowledgeable? If so, I never met them. Management put almost ZERO effort in training their people, or facilitating communication, when the many problems listed here on this thread arose.
The words/phrases like "chaos," "mismanagement," and "complete lack of communication" came up time and again over the 4 days. And given the massive amounts of money flowing into the Superfly coffers, I really wonder why they couldn't have made more of an effort to hire/train an actual staff, and not rely on poorly-trained volunteers.
The only way that they will change things next time is if enough people write to them, and state in plain English that they are SERIOUSLY debating not ever going again. All of this "oh, yeah it sucked, but I'll still keep coming" approach will just lead to more crappy treatment in the future. They're concerned about the almighty dollar, and if long-timers are thinking about not coming in the future, they MIGHT just do something, to make things right.
Sorry for the long vent (and trust me, there was PLENTY of stuff that was left out!), but Superfly needs to hear from everyone on this.
I'm very surprised at all this negativity from people. I had truly had a blast at VIP for the second time. I Felt it was on par or better than last year. No complaints whatsoever. NO wait to get in for me. No line at HIE. Easy search at VIP entrance. Got in, Got a great spot next to centeroo and next to the showers. Never waited in security. Never waited at the food tents. Never had trouble getting on the bleachers. I don't get what was so bad about VIP this year, as opposed to last, or why it was so chaotic for most of you, but all 8 of us in our group felt it was our Best Bonnaroo experience ever (we're all Roo Vets too).
I'm very surprised at all this negativity from people. I had truly had a blast at VIP for the second time. I Felt it was on par or better than last year. No complaints whatsoever. NO wait to get in for me. No line at HIE. Easy search at VIP entrance. Got in, Got a great spot next to centeroo and next to the showers. Never waited in security. Never waited at the food tents. Never had trouble getting on the bleachers. I don't get what was so bad about VIP this year, as opposed to last, or why it was so chaotic for most of you, but all 8 of us in our group felt it was our Best Bonnaroo experience ever (we're all Roo Vets too).
You obviously didn't get there early on Thursday. Once the cop was brought in to clear out the lot, things moved much more smoothly for those arriving in the afternoon. But if you didn't understand why someone could be upset, given everything I just wrote, then I really don't know what else to say......
Roorunner, and others, I'm with ya on all of those points. Tomorrow or Wednesday I'll compose a letter to Superfly and I may or may not post it here, but I have to get this out of my system because I WANT to go back, but NOT if it's run like that.
I don't expect to be pampered, but we're not cattle and neither are GA'ers. When it takes a VIP'er passing out from heat exhaustion on Friday to get the entrance to Centeroo released for VIP, then there's a real problem. I never want to stand in a line and watch a girl pass out twice and see her boyfriend/husband slapping her face trying to get her to come to. Never again!! For all I know she had a medical problem, which could be why they paid for VIP in the first place. Oh, but five minutes before she passed out, some Superfly bigwigs on a powertrip drove by on their golf cart and said that the line would be moving soon because security was now going to allow cameras in. Gee, big help. Then the chick passed out and, as if by magic, the security checkpoint was gone.
Roorunner, and others, I'm with ya on all of those points. Tomorrow or Wednesday I'll compose a letter to Superfly and I may or may not post it here, but I have to get this out of my system because I WANT to go back, but NOT if it's run like that.
I don't expect to be pampered, but we're not cattle and neither are GA'ers. When it takes a VIP'er passing out from heat exhaustion on Friday to get the entrance to Centeroo released for VIP, then there's a real problem. I never want to stand in a line and watch a girl pass out twice and see her boyfriend/husband slapping her face trying to get her to come to. Never again!! For all I know she had a medical problem, which could be why they paid for VIP in the first place. Oh, but five minutes before she passed out, some Superfly bigwigs on a powertrip drove by on their golf cart and said that the line would be moving soon because security was now going to allow cameras in. Gee, big help. Then the chick passed out and, as if by magic, the security checkpoint was gone.
OMG......I didn't even hear about that! That's horrible. But I did indeed notice how things changed over the course of the event at the security gates. Rooskew and I (and some friends) had a run-in with an assinine security supervisor on Saturday. We had both discovered that the VIP gate near the hospitality tent was wide open around 11 AM or so. And so a number of people had already filtered onto the field near the main stage. We went in, set up our blankets and such up front at the fence bordering "The Pit." Then after about 20 minutes, this supervisor (older, skinny guy with glasses/gray shirt), tells us to clear out, that nobody was supposed to be out on the field. So we had to carry all our nuts all the way back to the VIP gate. When other VIP folks started massing at the gate, an ugly, verbally-heated incident ensued. A number of folks (who were likely as frustrated as I was with their treatment up to that point) vented on the security personnel. Finally, a VIP rep (?) showed up, and got into a pissing contest with the A-hole security mgr. over when the entrance would be opened up. Luckily for us, the VIP guy won the pissing contest, and we hauled all our stuff right back out to where we had been before.
Final, fitting comment about the security supervisor: during the Ben Harper set, he came down the security passageway, and, instead of picking up the beachballs/balloons and giving them back to the crowd (like his staff had done), he took out a knife and punctured all of them. "Nuff said! Probably the same guy who said "enjoy the wait!" at HIE on Thursday......
It says to pick up the tickets at 10am. not 1am. I, personally, find it disrespectful to the hotel to camp out in their parking lot all night to be the first in line and out of the lot in the morning. I had considered doing this and thought against it for this reason. We are visitors to Manchester, and damn lucky that some torqued hotel manager didn't go off booting people off the property in the middle of the night. Not to mention if half of us show up at 1am, it's just as much of a problem as us all showing up at 10am, we end up no further ahead in the line. I would have actually been there around 8am if not for a traffic screw up and not being able to exit at 114.
All things considered, meeting at the HIE to hand out materials isn't going to work for the long haul, and is probably a procedure that should be left entirely to artists and guests, and VIP entirely somewhere else. Someone's math was faulty on the morning they said "Let's sell more VIP tickets".
But honestly, people screw up. It didn't tarnish my Bonnaroo experience or my attitude towards my neighbors. I had a great time thanks to an absolutely stellar lineup and generally being prepared for the weather and having a clue this time around. I was happy to have food and shade and all that jazz. I just felt, that after so many years, the organization of traffic would be the least of their issues. If not for the traffic and parking problems, the catering slowdowns I would have plainly looked past. But after all thursday of waiting in line, waiting in line for VIP food and beer threatened to throw me out of my usual mellow nature. The fact that I paid quite a bit extra to wait in that kind of line really freaked me out as well.
I am very sorry to hear about your car RooRunner. that sucks!
We treat mishaps like sinking ships and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips and They both tell me that we're better than this
Thanks, Indigo. I agree with everything you just said. When I write them, I am (seriously!) going to offer to work for them, if they'll pay me enough, to make things much smoother, next time. They need to hire people who have a clue as to what customer service really is! The only exception was this VIP rep guy I mentioned earlier, who actually said to the security head, "These people paid a hell of a lot of money for these tickets!" And then proceeded to out-piss Old Crusty Guy.
Loved it. They needed about 100 more like him. And then things would have gone smoothly for EVERYBODY. And then it would have been all about the music and good times. Damn shame.