Camping is unbelievably epic this year

[Boourns]

Okay, so people had problems with searches (we got lucky, were weakly searched, and arrived at the right time: 85 minutes and we were wristbanded) and there are not nearly enough showers, but holy monk, how cool was camping last night?

Skating was loads of fun, even though I can't skate and fell down and went boom. Best of all were the swings. They had lights on the seats and they made sounds that were dependent on how high and fast you were swinging. Very cool and trippy.

Saw the spotlights being tested last night. They moved and changed colors. So are the 2008 lights back? Seems so!

[canexplain]

Okay, so people had problems with searches (we got lucky, were weakly searched, and arrived at the right time: 85 minutes and we were wristbanded) and there are not nearly enough showers, but holy monk, how cool was camping last night?

Skating was loads of fun, even though I can't skate and fell down and went boom. Best of all were the swings. They had lights on the seats and they made sounds that were dependent on how high and fast you were swinging. Very cool and trippy.

Saw the spotlights being tested last night. They moved and changed colors. So are the 2008 lights back? Seems so!

Keep us up to date please. Have a great time :)

[CSUMB13]

Okay, so people had problems with searches (we got lucky, were weakly searched, and arrived at the right time: 85 minutes and we were wristbanded) and there are not nearly enough showers, but holy monk, how cool was camping last night?

Skating was loads of fun, even though I can't skate and fell down and went boom. Best of all were the swings. They had lights on the seats and they made sounds that were dependent on how high and fast you were swinging. Very cool and trippy.

Saw the spotlights being tested last night. They moved and changed colors. So are the 2008 lights back? Seems so!
good to hear...thanks for the post

[Boourns]

I had a slice of pepperoni from spicy pie last night and it was delicious. Haven't had one of those in ages.

[canexplain]

So Boourns, you are a major fest vet, how is GV doing so far in your opinion since you are thru the hardest part (except now the search and actual gate entrance) ... Legit gripes or just whiners ?

[candi]

i camped this year for the first time and was so absolutely miserable that i will NOT do it again. to drive to the car search line, it was like a ridiculous derby: so disorganized and cars were just racing each other for a closer spot in line. we finally got searched after like 2 hours and missed lcd soundsystem.

they were out of camping spots the moment we got there so we had to park on the street and go into the festival. after we came out, they made us wait in ANOTHER line for SIX HOURS. i ended up falling asleep in my car with my neck at a right angle.

when we finally got to our spot (at seven in the morning), my friend miserably set up our tent and we all feebly climbed in to get what sleep we could. but because the sun was beating down so hard on the tent, none of us could stand the heat.

so we figured we might as well take a shower. we packed up all our shower stuff and walked the 700 miles it took to get there only to find that the line was 4000 people long.

really really miserable. luckily i'm from that area originally so after the secong day we packed up all our stuff and got the hell out of there.

[DeadSkin]

This year's Coachella was horribly executed. They need to be a little more organized next year, and don't hire douchebag security guards.

[hegemon]

car camping, canopies, pinballs, beers, nice camping neighbors, great peaceful spot (relatively near festival entrance), thursday & saturday campsite parties not necessarily
in that order for me

I would do this again given the chance - road trip to coachella with all m camping gears

- bad planning and just got lazy with recharging my cell phone & camera batteries

[thestripe]

i camped this year for the first time and was so absolutely miserable that i will NOT do it again. to drive to the car search line, it was like a ridiculous derby: so disorganized and cars were just racing each other for a closer spot in line. we finally got searched after like 2 hours and missed lcd soundsystem.

they were out of camping spots the moment we got there so we had to park on the street and go into the festival. after we came out, they made us wait in ANOTHER line for SIX HOURS. i ended up falling asleep in my car with my neck at a right angle.

when we finally got to our spot (at seven in the morning), my friend miserably set up our tent and we all feebly climbed in to get what sleep we could. but because the sun was beating down so hard on the tent, none of us could stand the heat.

so we figured we might as well take a shower. we packed up all our shower stuff and walked the 700 miles it took to get there only to find that the line was 4000 people long.

really really miserable. luckily i'm from that area originally so after the secong day we packed up all our stuff and got the hell out of there.



Again. Get to the festival on Thursday night or VERY early on Friday morning.



Fuck, the movie I wanted to see started at 5:30 and I showed up at 6:30 and missed all of the movie. Fuck you movie theater!

[Inthecolumbiagorge]

Bottom line.....Hell yeah I would go next year!!!!!

There were issues.....don't get me wrong......but the music.....the really great vibe from all the attendees we met..........it was all worth it a hundred times over:-) Next time....better planning by me because obviously we can't count on GV to get everything right as it turns out, but with the right preparation even the heat....even the long lines......even the horrible crowds......even the non-functioning volunteers.....we will do it again....and again....and again:-)


We were lucky.....got there Thursday at noon......got to our camp spot by 3:30 (yeah...that is a long time) and our camp area was actually pretty nice. We had showers that you could use at night but the morning.....no way without 1-2 hour wait so the Aussies we adopted waited for the water truck:-) They need SPRINKLERS in each camping spot and I think people would be more comfortable. We had GREAT neighbors so that makes alot of other shit not so bad:-) I personally would like to see a few less acts and a little longer sets.

[eskamo951]

I'll be honest, I'm going every year, but after this year, I'm debating getting a condo or something for next year, even if it's just for a shower. My camping group did not have 10X30 camping spaces, closer to car widthX25'. There was only ONE clear path dissecting the rows of cars, with meant stumbling over people's tents, or walking completely out of your way. The fencing was retarded, which is why it was torn down everyday. It is not a good idea to funnel everyone through a narrow maze of fences to get back into camping after a long day of Coachella, we're tired and many are fucked up, that extra 1000 feet of walking makes a difference.
BUT: I had a blast, even if i am miserable today.

[Necie]

Camping was CAMPING! What do you expect when you camp?!

We got there around 5pm Thursday, got in within 60 minutes, the search was feeble (but we chatted up the girl that searched us).

The organization was fine. Yeah it was difficult to cut straight across since the fire lanes only went one way (east/west), but most of the things you would need/want to cut across for were ON a major pathway (general store, portapotties, showers, roller rink, Farmers Market, vendors, bassface, etc.)

There were so many things for campers to do/see/eat that anyone complaining too hard is more then likely difficult to satisfy anyhow..or was the exception..

Sure the lines for the showers were long: WTF do you expect? Either bring a solar shower or figure out when there are less people (like AFTER the festival: i waited for no more than 5 people at 1:45am).

The security staff couldn't have been more lenient (or at least, that's how it was with my entire group every time we re-entered.)

My magical camping combination: earplugs, tolerance, trail mix, air mattress and the Do Lab!

[chiapet]

Necie, most of us have camped at coachella before, and this year was a lot different. GV tried something new and it was not well executed. I appreciate car camping and the effort to have more campground activities, but the basic facilities were not up to par of previous years, which is why people are complaining. We expect a wait for showers but not 4+ hour waits. It seemed like they underestimated how many campers there would be with a per car pass system. The smaller than advertised spaces made things a bit tough for people who carpooled.

Not saying I wouldn't camp again, just feel like there were some obvious problems that could have been avoided.

[faxman75]

I"m wondering what people think is a reasonable amount of time for a search getting into a festival. I think there are some people who think 2 hours is ridiculous to wait and others might find that to be really short.

[tezman]

We got there around 3am on Friday and didn't get to our site until 7am. The wait was long but we still had a fun time partying in line with everyone else. We didn't even get search at all. We chatted with the security guard and they let us in.

I thought camping was fun as heck. Showers are going to be crowded in the morning. Just work around it and shower after the show or near 11am when people are getting ready to enter the festival.

[kayeM]

camping was a bitch to get in but once we got in and everything set up it was awesome being able to keep things in your car and play music.. shower lines were ridiculous but i shot home to my parents house in the area to swim and bbq so it was dope..

[mountmccabe]

The wait was long but we still had a fun time partying in line with everyone else.

I wandered through the lines 6-7:30 pm on Thursday while my group was in line and then again for a while around 2 am on Friday while with other friends checking in and the vibe in the line was amazing. Everybody seemed to be having a great time. I loved it.



The organization was fine. Yeah it was difficult to cut straight across since the fire lanes only went one way (east/west), but most of the things you would need/want to cut across for were ON a major pathway (general store, portapotties, showers, roller rink, Farmers Market, vendors, bassface, etc.)

This is a good point, though to follow the firelanes to the festival entrance would've been a lot of backtracking. Same with the portapotties right there.

[justTom]

Agreed, camping was epic...just as much fun as the shows! But yeah, really the only issue was the long shower lines but it's a good thing we brought a 10 gallon jug of water and used that to take showers at our campsite.

[candi]

Again. Get to the festival on Thursday night or VERY early on Friday morning.



Fuck, the movie I wanted to see started at 5:30 and I showed up at 6:30 and missed all of the movie. Fuck you movie theater!

this isn't my first festival. it's never been like this before. it was poorly planned and it put a big downer on my trip.

i now live about 60 miles away from indio and i left my house at 1 pm on friday. i didn't get into the festival until 8:30. that's poor execution on gv's part, not mine.

i'm glad i didn't show up on thursday night. that would have been just another night i would have had to spend in the concentration camp.

but other than the shittiness of the camping and the horror of the drive, it was a great year!

[natureboy]

I think the re-design for the showers was shitty. The old way was better. Making the trek to the other shower in Forum Camping was worth it after seeing the total clusterfuck that was the new shower set-up.

Kudos to GV for having the porto-potties cleaned on a much more regular basis than previous years. Never once from Thurs-Sun did I encounter the infamous Shit Pyramid when opening a porto door.

I was a little sad to see the 21 over Bar/Karaoke go away.

[Necie]

Necie, most of us have camped at coachella before, and this year was a lot different. GV tried something new and it was not well executed. I appreciate car camping and the effort to have more campground activities, but the basic facilities were not up to par of previous years, which is why people are complaining. We expect a wait for showers but not 4+ hour waits. It seemed like they underestimated how many campers there would be with a per car pass system. The smaller than advertised spaces made things a bit tough for people who carpooled.

Not saying I wouldn't camp again, just feel like there were some obvious problems that could have been avoided.

Because I didn't have to wait this long for a shower, maybe I didn't fully understand how frustrating it really was (especially for those who have camped before when it was more evenly matched, showers: campers).

Other than the showers, Chiapet, what else wasn't executed well? (not nitpicking, but genuine "this was ridiculous!" or " WTF?!" shenanigans.

Being that it was my first time camping at Coachella, I'm interested in hearing other peoples perspectives. :-)