The tent was also used to house interviews with a many of the festival's musicians. The times often conflicted with performances I wanted to see. Fortunately, these interviews can be viewed at the Outside Lands page at Dell's Summer Rocks. The tent was a small place to relax in the middle of the entire festival, which featured a few comfortable couches and a ping-pong table.
Outsider Art
Outsider Art was a series of tents devoted to the many artists who help design and decorate the festival's stages. I was surprised by how small the tents where and even though they were located near the middle of the festival for some reason they seemed be lost within the tent shuffle.
Signature Lounge
Visa's Signature Lounge was a godsend, and welcome VIP treatment to the many long lines at either the portable toilets or the alcohol stands. It was underused Friday, and Saturday was overused with large crowds trying to buy cocktails and long lines trying to use the very private bathrooms. The one men's trailer (the women got two) was extremely dirty by Saturday night. To be fair, there were plenty of portable toilets placed throughout the grounds so this lounge was more of a bonus or "privilege" than a "right."
The lounge's organizers also got hip to the notion that taking out your Visa card to get in was very annoying and soon had wristbands for the patrons.
Festival Problems
- Of the five staff members I asked for directions to the press tent, the one person who pointed me in the right spot was the one person who was the most honest and upfront about having no idea where it was.
That shouldn't have happened. If you're wearing a "staff" t-shirt, there should be no reason why you wouldn't know where anything anyone asks you is. That might seem like a lot to ask, but the tent is a stationary place and a popular destination, and I spent thirty minutes going in circles before I found it.
That brings me to another problem I had which was that the tent was very far away from the main festival grounds. Sure, interviews need quiet and artists want their privacy but there was plenty of staff checking press bracelets and tickets so security shouldn't have been that tight as to make such a trek so time consuming.
Also, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got lost trying to find the tent and ended up missing the media orientation. But there weren't any postings that I could find that gave the day's media events nor were there any staff members eager to help a seemingly ignorant and bewildered attendee.
Article comments