The line needs to be limited to starting no earlier than 6pm or something like that. Too many are heading out at noon to start the process. It requires people to leave the show and miss the whole day to get ‘in position’.
I don’t do the line thing until 6 at the earliest, and find it a bit odd to there were people who slept over night just to get 100 feet closer to Sam Bush. Trust me he doesn’t smell that great, and you are not going to get close enough matter take a whiff even if you are first in line.
But no matter what the rules are, somebody is going to be the first in line to start the process under the rules. You say they can’t start line up until 6, then there will be an unofficial and polite line to start that line. Some can try and just sneak in at 6, but what are going to do try and occupy the same space somebody has been waiting to occupy for 10 hours?
Unless there is some random fair process involved, the non random way will create a line in a polite world. Official or other wise. It just is. Be glad the festival is filled with polite people.
The trade off to being in line is you will miss other parts of life, such as a good set of music. I prefer to the music and a good 6 hours of sleep. You don’t have to get in line early to get a good view for the next’s day show. As long as I can see Sam’s smile I am close enough. And that’s nearly the entire venue. But that’s me.
Ladies and gentleman…we need to get our heads on strait in regards to the Tarp Line. I largely blame Planet Bluegrass for their Nixon-like deregulation practices. In my opinion, Planet Bluegrass needs to actually enforce some rules in this process.
1- There needs to be a set, specific time that people are allowed to line up in the tarp line and that MUST BE ENFORCED.
2- People cannot be allowed to sleep in the tarp line AT ALL. Although this is already a rule, it is not enforced at all and it MUST BE ENFORCED.
3- You must be present in your spot the entire time that you are occupying that spot. I walked past the “tarp line” in the middle of the day and it stretched all the way back to the end of the volleyball court and there was a total of 6 people ACTUALLY in there spots. It MUST BE ENFORCED that you are physically in the line.
4- People need to realize that missing a ton of acts in order to get a good spot in the tarp line is absolutely rediculous.
Ultimately, it’s all about Planet Bluegrass’s lack of enforcing rules in the tarp line. This is something that really needs to be addressed and is a thorn in the side of the festival.
But anyhow, besides this, Telluride rocks. Cheers.
Being during the day, I would guess that you are talking about the line for the line? Which has absoulutley NO rules. Therefore enforcement would be extremely hard.
Let the die-hards do their thing and line up on Tuesday for the Friday line. Let the drunkies crash on the sidewalk after a Nightgrass show. Me and my crew will show up at 5am like we’ve done for years and score a very nice spot on a grassy section of field and have the time of our lives. It’s not like anyone can’t find a friendly tarp of folks up front to share with if you absolutely need to see Sam Bush’s armpit hair.
I did the line for about 20 years, starting when the fest first added Thursday to the run. Here’s what I learned - there’s always a line, and there’s always some mutant festie who thinks it’s terribly unfair that line-critters might be 6 feet closer to the stage. Personally, I found it a wonderful excuse to drink hot coffee heavily spiked with peach schnapps (or was it peach schnapps warmed with coffee?) at 6 AM.
I’m with you Hooch. We did the tarp line one night and tarp jumped the other days and had a blast both ways. Nothing needs to be changed in our minds. Oh and thanks for all the crunchy Frog :cheers
i got in line the first day at 9pm, camped out, and received number 50, and the next day i was around 500 or so, showing up 20 minutes before 9am. i was closer the second day than i was the first.
I admit that we’re all sometimes guilty of cheesy line behavior, but overall I think it works pretty well. I still don’t understand the line to get in line, though. That seems somewhat extreme. But hey, if people are willing to miss the show to get a spot the next day so that they can miss the next show to get in line again, then more power to them.
the line self regulates, at least the town line does. as mentioned above, every year someone has to come and complain. it sounds like the OP needs a larger crew…
If some people are stupid enough to miss almost a whole day of fine music only to put their tarp in the front row, then be it. I simply don’t understand what on earth those people are hoping to get from that, but it must be entirely unrelated to music. Every single night, I went to a nightgrass show and then slept in my tent until 9. I could still watch all my favourite acts on the main stage from up close, even for the House Band I was standing directly at the poser-pit fence and pretty central as well!!! What is it that drags people away from the music towards the tarp line?
:huh
Please enlighten me
I think most people who line up early are with large crews and are taking turns so that they don’t miss too much music. Personally, I think getting in line before the music is over is craziness. But it’s there for those who really want to do it.
It sounds like bernar has his own solution - get plenty of sleep, make new friends, surf some tarps and have a great time. You don’t have to do the line thing and you can still have a terrific spot, a great time and get as close as you want from time to time anyway. And you can stroll by the Funny Line People and make fun of them at all hours.
The line isn’t totally necessary and it isn’t for everyone, that’s for sure. But if you have a cooperative group and have your system down, you can get a nice spot every day. That’s more important for some people than for others.
For my crew, the line is a tradition. We don’t miss the music, but we take turns getting in line so that we can get our exact same spot each year. Not close to the same spot - I’m talking the EXACT same spot. And if you’ve ever come to hang out at our spot during the festival, you’d understand why we love it.