FYF Fest 2014: The great and the grating on Day 1
Kevin Bronson on
6
So how was your first day of FYF Fest?
Because there were two distinct factions at Day 1 of this year’s bigger, pricier FYF – sold out at a capacity of 40,000 – at the L.A. Sports Arena & Exposition Park on Saturday. There were those who told me “amazeballs!” and “another home run” (hooray for baseball references) and “best weekend of the year” (the company slogan) while rushing to see Grimes and Run the Jewels. And there were those who cursed the ongoing legacy of logistical problems that still plague the festival even after it hopped in the sack with major promoter Goldenvoice in 2011.
As you might expect, any event that moves to a new venue (and this is likely to become FYF’s permanent home) is going to have some ups and downs. Here goes …
First, the good:
‣ Every stage sounded fantastic, even the cavernous Sports Arena, with no technical woes we heard about. And the abundance of shade made downtime pleasant.
‣ Virtually no dust (we miss your skyline view, L.A. State Historic Park, but not your air). You may be able to breathe this morning.
‣ Plentiful bathrooms.
‣ Everyone we asked (who did not have a Curmudgeon Merit Badge) was excited about the lineup.
‣ And we didn’t see a single dude in a headdress, and not one person took the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Now for the other:
‣ The lines to enter the festival (unless you arrived at 1 p.m., like the silly guy who took the above photo) were insane – a two-plus-hour wait for some. The VIP entrance was not clearly marked (oh, thanks for the email that was sent out to VIP wristband holders at 6:49 p.m. with a map to the entrance).
‣ The footprint of the festival was much larger than at L.A. State Historic Park, not a problem itself, except that the serpentine manner in which foot traffic was routed made for downright dangerous pedestrian jams in some spots. Basically, there was only one way between stages – the long way around. It was very commerce-friendly (you passed vendors, food trucks and booths on every trip), but not terribly user-friendly. It took longer to walk from the Main Stage to The Lawn stage at FYF than it takes to get from the Main Stage to the Sahara Tent at Coachella. Tip: If you’re in a hurry, walk to the outside, away from the Sports Arena.
‣ After Slint’s 4 p.m. set inside the Sports Arena, that venue turned into a mess. Depending on whom you asked, security was either 1) not letting people in, 2) letting people in from the other side, or 3) letting people in after whoever was playing was finished. Sets were missed. Shouting was heard.
‣ Cellular signals were bad as the night progressed.
‣ Lines at the food trucks were oppressive, too. Tip: The lines at the food court at the southeast corner of the festival – down from the Main Stage – weren’t bad at all.
Hey, Day 2, can’t wait to see you.
More Day 1 coverage coming later this morning on this very channel …
Where is that VIP entrance anyways?!
On Bill Robertson Lane, a block north of MLK Jr. Blvd.
Thanks Kevin!
I would like to have seen more coordination of taxis. The fyf map showed a taxi stand that was non-existent at the end of the festival and taxis were not to be found outside the exit. A lot of people were jammed on 39th and Vermont looking for transportation and trying to catch the metro, creating a near stampede when people were starting to push and scream. You pack thousands of people into a small area and leave only one exit with one mode of transport? Dangerous.
[…] By 4 p.m. Saturday, an EMT was already hauling away a teenage girl away in an ambulance (she was still donning dental braces by the way) and a few feet away a security guard was holding back the hair of a young vomiting woman. Although this sounds like your typical out-of-control festival scene, Burger Records ran an impressively tight ship on its first day of its fourth annual Burgerama. Despite the music festival’s attendance having exponentially grown each year and its three stages (including the outdoor “Rama” stage built in the Observatory’s parking lot) being in close quarters of one another, all the gallivanting, drinking eating and more didn’t seem to be a problem. Sets ran on time for the most part, there was no shortage of food or water, and security guards went the extra mile to keep things in order. In fact, the flow of bodies were so efficiently regulated that one couldn’t help but favor Burgerama when compared to other recent local festivals dealing with high traffic. […]
[…] founder Sean Carlson, in making the announcement this morning on KCRW, said that logistics problems that plagued Day 1 last year have been addressed. “We had a massive amount people show up at the same time and it was our […]