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Could be. I've never been in the pit, could have just been a one time deal. How long did you have to wait for McCartney? I was planning on staying away from the pit forever after this, but I may give it a go next year.
I waited from as soon as the What field opened. There were probably about 50 people in front of me. But I think they let the left side in first. On Friday the pit wasn't separated by two sides but was instead one big pit. So because if that I wound up five rows back dead center.
It's definitely worth it, especially for shows like that. For the non-headlining shows, you can usually get a good spot by arriving before the previous set starts. Like last year, for The Roots, I arrived just before Santigold started and got center two rows back.
Post by FuzzyWarbles on Jun 18, 2013 15:46:27 GMT -5
I love the pit option and think its totally worth it. If I see an unruly crowd that looks like they're willing to fight for a spot I just step back to the side and find a great view. Once everyone is in I might check to see if there is still room for a few more.
Post by trailerparknoodles on Jun 18, 2013 16:03:01 GMT -5
Was in the pit for Local Natives and the National and they went super smooth
HOWEVER........
the left side pit for McCartney was pretty irritating. They had us walk forward to the wall and stopped every few steps and then yell at us to BACKUP even though no one could back up. We just were there for fifteen minutes with our hands up and couldn't move. The right side of the pit was being let in (the pit's were not separated on Friday) and then they were also letting in media from behind the wall on the left side. By the time they let us in the pit was mostly full. I know they were scared after the Radiohead pit line debacle (which I was in) but the only crushing this year happened when the security would have people walk five steps then stop repeatedly.
I was close in the line, got there when Passion Pit started. People cut line from the bathrooms and the crowd pointed them out/booed but no one from security was on that side of the line to watch.
Just thought it was pretty weak to watch the pit fill up while we waited for the media to stream in and luckily I got in but I know there was a ton of people behind me that probably didn't.
All was forgiven when Macca started obviously and they did a great job for the other shows. My experience seems to be the minority anyway.
No luck that I saw with this guy. He ignored several offers I saw during Paul. One dude even offered him a bag of corn. This cat didn't say a word and walked away. He was strictly business.
I was in the pit line for Radiohead and RHCP last year and I nearly got pinned against the board fence. The security guys were freaking out and screaming for the crowd to back the Quack up. Thankfully my experience going to a lot of metal and punk shows in my younger years helped me stay calm until the crush eased off but it left an impression on me.
The security guy in the video was awesome the 4-5 times I talked to him this year. He actually lived up to the 'Firm But Fair' slogan you see a lot concert security services proclaiming. He told me straight up at Macca and Petty that I was standing in line for nothing. The pit was closed (to us GA proles anyway) after the show started. I really appreciated his honesty. I talked to him for a good while when I got in line for Bjork. He asked if I was having a good time this weekend. I said 'It's Bonnaroo man, a good time all the time' he said 'Damn right about that'. Very cool guy.
In the Which VIP pit, a security guy saw how into Solange my oldest was and he asked a couple of really tall guys if they wouldn't mind moving back a bit so he could get up to the front and watch her. They were so totally cool about it and Will got to see Solange from about 10 feet away. He had goosebumps for about an hour afterwards. We just had the best luck with kind people everywhere we went the whole weekend - to include security.
9/10 people that walked out of the pit line said "this was not worth it" and they looked half dead. The girl that got trampled didn't get any help from security. It was awful.
I am so grateful you're Troy Aikman and not Joe Theismann or Sonny Jurgensen.
I was on the rail right beside the pit entrance for Kendrick Lamar. It was a mess. I saw a girl get trampled. Brutal.
I think the easiest fix would be to get rid of the pit. Not sure I understand the logic behind them.
No the fix would be to let the people into the pit prior to having 5 mins until show time. Kendrick Lamar pit people sucked. Deciding to do single checks as you entered was dumb when you have a line of about 1000 waiting for a show that starts in 15 mins. People got hurt because of this inaction not to mention the hundreds of idiots that tried to cut the line.
Post by thehoneybin on Jun 18, 2013 23:59:48 GMT -5
At Edward Sharpe the pit security was good too. A group of stubborn rude folks sat directly next to the line and tried to play it off as if they were just sitting, and ignored every person that told them where the line actually ended. My friends went to tell security and he just said "don't worry about it, we got it handled! wont let them in!". later a few other girls got into the line and once pit security was coming and asking us to point out the cutters the girls begged us to not tell, but I did, because those four girls could have been four other people that actually did wait. she cried and tried bribing the security but he made them get it. I hate line cutters but definitely thankful for pit security!
Post by manoverboard on Jun 19, 2013 9:06:24 GMT -5
I had no problems with the pit this year. The only exception was during Macklemore, a bunch of douchebags cut the line a few minutes before they let us in. Other than that, I literally got on line 5 minutes before showtime for Bjork, The National and Tom Petty and I got in no problem.
YES!! We went into the pit so many times this weekend and security was SO ffking good making sure everyone got their fair shake at the pit. WAY rocking.
Post by Dave Maynar on Jun 20, 2013 8:55:00 GMT -5
I work with a guy who has a second job with Axis. I told him this morning about the positive feedback that I had heard on here about the pit security this year. He is pretty sure he knows which supervisor was in charge of the What Stage pit and said he will forward the appreciation on to him. From what he said, Axis had a shake-up of supervisors since last year, and if it is the guy he is thinking of, it was no surprise to him that things were ran so well this year because the guy is excellent at his job.
I MUST thank that guard in the video. I was in that line for McCartney on the left side. I was about 50-75 people in front of the crashers. That instance was only one of many. 90% of the people who tried to cut all had white bucket hats (which we all joked about with a guy actually waiting in line with a white bucket hat.) Whatever you called him (I called him Dennis Rodman - spitting image, but most people said Commando,) THANK YOU!!
We had all these people pile on the side of the line instead of the back, then right after Macklemore ended security came through and said only a width of 4 people were allowed. They then had to slowly start from the beginning and tell everyone who was on the side to move to the back. Obviously people were pissed and it took forever. I don't understand how security expected people to know this rule and then were pissed when people weren't following it. My friend and I were lucky and got to stay, but still, it was pretty bad. And then there was pushing and shoving to get in, with security yelling at us to stop and to move back as we were being pushed forward. Obviously we couldn't stop being pushed and to have security yell at us and threaten that they're not going to let anyone in for something that wasn't our fault and happening rows back was pretty unprofessional. Ended up getting a great spot and everything, but it was a bad experience.
Also got pit for Bjork and The National and that went perfectly. But Kendrick was hell.
My rant: Can't they just put longer cattle chutes at the pits? It seems like an obvious solution to me. They could place security every X amount of feet to prevent people from jumping over. I nearly got trampled getting into the pit for Macklemore. Luckily, I've been to a lot of shows and have experienced that sort of pushing and shoving, but for someone who hasn't, I imagine they were having a panic attack. Also, if they would let people into the pit sooner instead of waiting 10 minutes before the show starts, that would also eliminate some people cutting in line.
Though yes, overall pit security was great from what I could tell.
They were excellent this year. My dad a was a little worried while we were in line for Paul, as we nearly got trampled in the Pearl Jam pit in '08. But it went so smooth. As others have mentioned, the pit is part of what makes Bonnaroo so great for me. Being in the pit for Paul covered the ticket price, alone.
Last Edit: Jun 22, 2013 13:28:47 GMT -5 by Deleted - Back to Top
Post by cory's beard on Jun 22, 2013 23:29:39 GMT -5
They did the 4-wide thing at Bjork but not at McCartney and David Byrne (though I was a lot closer in those pit lines so I may have just missed it). Seems reasonable to me.
If some idiot walks up to a heaping mass of humanity and jumps in closer to where it feeds instead of somewhere in the back and then they say to themselves "Oh hey, this is a LINE", they fail at both geometry and Bonnaroo and only have themselves to blame for being mad about it.
The fact that security had the patience to travel that line and sort it out amazes me.
Well a lot of people didn't know that rule beforehand, so for them to get upset with us for not following a rule that they never told us was complete bs.
