I actually saw one of those security guys bust some folks next to me for drinking smuggled beer. The smugglers were asking for it as they made no attempt to hide their Tecate cans (duh - there were cups everywhere). But what struck me the most was the cool and friendly way that the security dude handled the situation.
Props to Planet Bluegrass for treating us like adults (until we show that we don’t deserve it). I’ve been to other festivals where the security folks are overbearing and take themselves a little too seriously, but Telluride has the best and most professional event security staff in the festival universe, in my opinion. Keeping 10,000 partying festival goers safe and within process limits is no small task.
I’m with Capt. Telluride…not only am I not a fan of New Belgium brews,
but Fat Tire to me is overglorified Budweiser mule piss…and I am not
a beer snob. In fact, I drank less than a 6-pack the entire festival.
I’m also with Bevin on the Planet treating us like adults. I cannot tell
you how many shows I’ve been to over the years, especially back
in the East Coast, where you were either treated like cattle for
entering a given “big” show, or was subject to power-hungry
bozos abusing their privileges.
We don’t need to be searched like heck every time we go through those gates. I take my back pack everywhere, and by festival end they just say: “We assume there is no glass”. I go by the rules, and they treat me with respect. I like the trade off. It’s another place Planet Bluegrass shines.
New Belgium Beer bad? Beer Advocate has getting a B+, Fat Tire a B. Nothing wrong with those beers. Not may favorite, but they have body, and full taste. Being low on funds I didn’t buy any myself, but I didn’t turn down the one my friend bought for me! Not all beers are from everybody, but don’t translate your dislike for something to being “bad”. I don’t like heavy metal, but I don’t put a blanket statement it is “bad”, it just isn’t for me. Fat Tire is a winner of many awards, and liked beer drinkers. It clearly has something to offer.
I have to agree a little on the overbearing security for unauthorized alcohol. My wife was drinking a can of beer under our sunshade and got busted. Now I admit she shouldn’t have been drinking it, or at least she should have poured into one of our festival cups. The security response was just over the top. She had to pour out the rest of her beer which was reasonable. She then had to consent to a search of our entire tarp/sunshade area. They then marked her wristband with an “X” and said that if it happened again she would be kicked out of the festival. A simple warning would have been nice!!! I was just a little upset when all during the festival I saw groups with cases of PBR smuggled in. So just saying…
Anyway it was another wonderful festival and big thanks to all the PB staff and volunteers!!!
I didnt witness any security/beer scenes so I cannot comment… BUT, I have always appreciated how PB does treat us with respect and there is a rather “loose” policy of what can be brought into festival grounds w/ the stated exceptions… I think “us” festarvarians need to respect their rules as well… It would be terrible if it turned into “Desert Sky Pavillion” in Phoenix where now you are not even allowed to bring in SEALED bottles of water when the temps are over 110 degrees!
I want to say thanks for PB for another wonderful festival as well…
I do have one small complaint. This is the first year that a "walking lane"was not enforced upon the left hand side of the field- ( heading towards the porta johns or first aid.) It simply dead-ended a bit before where the keltys started… If you wanted to get to the back, you needed to go up to center lane near sound booths to get out unless you wanted to crawl through the field of kelties… This was a real problem for mobility impaired folks as well as persons with strollers/wagons… I was surprised that it was allowed by the fire marshall. Anyone else notice this problem? We are normally in almost the same place every year and in the past the lane was marked off with chalk and was enforced… I did mention this to a PB employee and got jumped all over about “complaining.” :eek
Well i admit my guilt (smuggling Tecate (thanks Rabbit) into fest) and have the stamp on my bluegrass wrist bracelet (2 stamps and you’re out for the day) to prove it. The rover who confronted my friend and i was courteous, educational (“if you bring in Tecate and the other festies see it then everybody will bring in beer”), and conversant. It actually goes down as one of the better moments this year cuz Val/I got a kick out of being scolded in festiland and having the stamp of disapproval. Lots of laughs, but in all seriousness, the way this gent handled the situation was analagous to how the Planet runs their operation…respectfully, professionally, humorously…yada yada…
:rolleyes
a quick note about the alcoholic contraband…The enforcement of the “no outside alcohol” rule is due to the liquor license we have on the premise to be able to sell $5/$4 beers to the crowd.
Any outside alcohol found inside the area established as being fit for sales of alcohol could, for all technical purposes, find us in violation of our agreement with the town/state as dictated by the terms of the liquor license. Therefore, theoretically, if the wrong person saw you inside with a beer/ other booze they could revoke our license and effectively make the festival “dry” for the year.
So, please don’t bring outside alcohol into the venue. Our beer prices are as cheap as anywhere else you can purchase beer, particularly in a music/ festival/ event setting.
I’m sorry some of you aren’t the biggest fans of NBB, but I think you should give them a shot. Fat Tire is one of my least favorite beers, but they have some great brews. Don’t hate on the brewery because you don’t like one of their beers…I suggest, Mothership Wit, 1554, and the new Mighty Arrow which has a fantastic hop character in a surprisingly light beer. :cheers
Ya know, I think we should all remember that, while it’s a big party to us, it’s business for Planet Bluegrass with all the pains that come along with running the business in order for us to have fun. They do a great job at keeping the hard-nosed rules at a minimum and cut us a LOT of slack sometimes. None of us want a ‘dry’ festival due to excessive violations, so either play by the rules or don’t grumble too much if you get nailed. I’m certainly not innocent of the occasional bit of sneakage so am not standing on any sort of soapbox. Ultimately they are still trying to watch out for our collective good by occasionally having to put their foot down on some obvious problems.
By the way, I love Fat Tire so screw you haters!!! Hehe.
:wave Why does everyone complain so much. The security is looser here than ANYWHERE else I’ve been. GEEZL, PEEZL guys!! AT Red Rocks you cant take in anything, lest ye be shot.
They are linent as heck at TBF. Apparently the young 'Uns- 20 somethings, drink PBR’s ( NASTY as they are), because they say it is the best cheap beer there is. They can’t afford nicer brews. It’s that simple.
But , I gotta tell ya, $4 for any beer is a GREAT price . I was pleasantly surprised. Geez, at a baseball game beers are $6-8 bucks a piece!
Just follow the rules and hush. When people start complaining too much, it will cause MORE RULES to pop up. Hush up and drink what’s there!! :eek
As many people have stated, the folks at PB make the TBF seem easy, which requires one hellava lotta work. This festival is one of my highlights for the year, and I will always appreciate the staff for putting it on. The lineup was exceptional. I don’t know Dustin, but if he is responsible for Ryan Adams ( an earlier post was giving him shit for Ryan) then I have to toast Dustin, because while Ryan was a fruit loop last year (my ears are still ringing) , he usually puts on incredible shows and plays more acoustic…
I do have one small complaint- my family wanted to buy posters for our house and for friends’ gifts ( it was raining) so we went to get a box but it was $5- which seemed like a lot! So we decided to order more posters after the show, but now we hear they are sold out! Say it ain’t so! Any chance you are going to print a few more? I know 10 people who are ready to shell out some cash who are going to be very bummed!
I’m pretty sure that there was no walking lane along the east side fence last year either. It’s much nicer on our side of the field when you can walk from the hula-hoop zone/True Love’s Dance Hall straight back to the porta-johns, but if I recall correctly, there hasn’t been an actual lane there for a couple of years. I guess they make room for more people to sit that way, but a walking lane makes a huge difference in getting around on the east side. Something for PB to consider - there used to be a regular walking lane, but now there’s not. Perhaps it was overlooked? Maybe it was intentional? Hard to tell. The Kelty-people in the back pack ‘em in close enough that there’s no way to get through the Kelty’s without a lane. Maybe we need to get a posse’ together next year and go out to the field on Monday or Tuesday while they’re setting up and ask them to consider an actual lane.
I absolutely agree with all of the kudos for PB and the amazing job you guys do. I am part of 2 much smaller festivals and can attest to the amount of work required. The alcohol thing is always dicey and there are always rules imposed by the regulators, so we should all try really hard not to let a few folks blow it for all of us. If you have to bring it in, at least have enough sense to put it in a cup. About regulations and prices, just try going to a show at the Gourge in WA. A bunch of us were there recently for the Dead/Allman Bros. show and a 16 oz. PBR was $9 and the gestapo was out enforcing whatever the heck they chose to. Nothing liquid was allowed through the gates, even if it was unopened. And, if you bought a bottle of water there, they took the cap off and threw it away for some insane reason. Long live Planet Bluegrass and their kinder, gentler way of treating us.
You guys are the best!!! Can’t wait for Rockygrass for another amazing time. Thanks for all you do.
ive got to reiterate whats been said before… the security is SO lax at TBF, i think its kind of silly to complain-- the fact is, as dustin said, they have to protect their liquor liscense, and i think that is totally reasonable.
beyond the possibility of the wrong person seeing someone with outside booze, if you dont provide some sort of semblance of a security check, you will get a lot of people who cant handle the freedom taking advantage of it. if you guys didnt like the marshmellows, i think you would SERIOUSLY dislike that.
if youre trying to sneak in beer, then youre (probably) either bringing in crappy beer or glass-- in both cases, youre better off buying one inside. 4 bucks is an incredibly reasonable price for a beer at a show, even if its a small cup. youll pay 3 bucks more for a couple more ounces at red rocks…
bottom line, i feel like complaining about the security at TBF is a little like complaining about the music at TBF… anything you didnt like about it had to have been an EXTREMELY minor part of the weekend…
and by the way as a 24 year old i am PERSONALLY offended that 20somethings have been linked to PBR here. i think i just vomitted in my mouth. joke, of course.
Unfortunately I think this is a symptom of Wilco crowds these days, bless those boys’ hearts. I saw them in Oxford, Mississippi, this past April and the show sold out in like an hour and a half but people STILL talked throughout the whole show, to the point where Jeff stopped and railed on them a few times and strongly emphasized lines from their songs like “I’d like to thank you all for nothing” (from “Misunderstood”) and “I can tell you’re not listening” (from “Impossible Germany”). Luckily I was in the 3rd row and the up-close people seemed quiet enough.
Sad to see such a load of jackasses love such a great band. I try so hard to have a tolerant mindset but there’s something about being able to hear a couple of good ol’ boys’ asinine, drunken conversation over one of my favorite bands that makes me just want to stop going to shows.
But to the point of your post, PBG crowds are great!
