My two cents - a solution to clusterfuck

[chucky canuck]

Given the very valid complaints this year about overcrowding, gate-crashing and disorganized entry points, I thought I would add my completely unscientific and personal thoughts on a possible solution:

1) Charge more, sell fewer: Instead of selling 70,000 tix at $260 each, sell 60,000 at $360 each. It's still excellent value for the lineup, and it still represents a small fraction of the cost of attending the festival for the many, many people who come from out of town (or state, or country). You would gross an extra $3.4 million ($21.6 mill to $18.2 mill), which could be used for the following initiatives:

2) Beef up security at the perimeter. You may not need a Glastonbury-style superfence, but you really need to keep gate-crashers out. Word will get around about this year's easy crashing, so expect more to show up next year.

3) Beef up staff at the entry points: Bag check, ticket check, wrist-band issuing. They all took way too long this year and were not ready early enough.

4) Add another route to the parking lots. Instead of telling everyong to come down Jefferson, 3 miles west of the parking lot, encourage people to consider Monroe as an alternative, AND to access parking from the east as well. I assume you have to keep some route reserved fire for emergency vehicles, but surely that can be done somewhere other than the road immediately north of the site.

5) If there's still money left over, some more showers for the campers.

Coachella has (had?) a unique vibe among festivals because of its relaxed atmosphere, manageable crowd, great amenities and tight organization I think that vibe is worth preserving.

[noolan]

Well, glad that is solved.

[elChurro]

Move coachella to the playa, forget about showers and Jay-Z, less people will come due to the weather conditions. Problem solved!

[frazzles]

Or just don't sell 75k tickets when there's no fucking space for 75k people.

[daxton]

Why would the tickets have to increase by $100? This would mean an extra 3.4 million in sales which seems like a whole fucking lot for a little more security and showers.

[glitch]

hay guise whats going on in this thread

[daxton]

not much. just chillin.

[chucky canuck]

Why would the tickets have to increase by $100? This would mean an extra 3.4 million in sales which seems like a whole fucking lot for a little more security and showers.

I think we need more than a "little" more security and staff to ease lineups, address overcrowding and the parking mess.
Any leftover money....get Bowie

[Media Blitz]

Did gate-crashing really hurt anyone's good time?

[chucky canuck]

Did gate-crashing really hurt anyone's good time?

yes, in that there were enough gate-crashers to add to the overcrowding problem

[Media Blitz]

I had no issues with the crowd size. We don't need more security. There's enough untrained assholes out there as it is.

[Changoloco]

I think the OP should totally throw a festival. He has this organization thing down pat.

[beavington]

someone trying to come up with solutions doesnt fly here man, you need to bitch about everything and offer no solutions, like republicans.

i think the solution is
-using the cloth wristbands as was epxected by people on the board,
-get better security and not people who are looking for drugs for themselves.
-sell a bit less tickets, because using the excuse of three day only tickets helping make the experience better for everyone doesnt work when it is overcrowded.

[cuauhtemoc723]

Given the very valid complaints this year about overcrowding, gate-crashing and disorganized entry points, I thought I would add my completely unscientific and personal thoughts on a possible solution:

1) Charge more, sell fewer: Instead of selling 70,000 tix at $260 each, sell 60,000 at $360 each.

2) Beef up security at the perimeter.

3) Beef up staff at the entry points.

4) Add another route to the parking lots.

5) If there's still money left over, some more showers for the campers.

1) NO! maybe have the price be $300 and $325 all together, but not $100 more, plus service charge. some of us took a huge blow financially for coachella. it would suck if the patrons have to deal with the blow again. this is a logistics problem and it needs to be dealt with by goldenvoice.

2) YES! you need competent individuals who are paid well enough NOT to get bought out by crashers. i went to a sold-out show at a small venue. the guy at the door asked for $20 and he let three of us in.

3) NO!!!!!!!!! who cares if i sneak in some pot to the show. have the security check points be relaxed.
but, if by "beef up," you mean have more, then i agree.

4) yes. and when people are leaving, have two lanes, not just one that travels at 0.4 miles an hour. i just started driving on the emergency lane. i drove slowly and got out of the way of on coming traffic, but i passed at least 25 vehicles.

5) i guess. but people need to time management better. my friend who camped woke up @ 7am, shower with very little wait time and went back to bed. i guess this can also be said for people who plan to arrive at the festival @ 3pm on friday - you're not gonna get there quickly.

I had no issues with the crowd size. We don't need more security. There's enough untrained assholes out there as it is.

yup. i really didn't mind the size. what bothered me more was people yelling conversations during sets. this made me sooo pissed off. why can i hear the bullshit you're telling your friend louder than the speaker ten feet away from me. if you're not there for the show, go yell your conversation elsewhere, please.

[frazzles]

I have no idea where your friend showered at 7 AM with little wait time. I can assure you it wasn't in the main car camping ground. Unless it wasy maybe Friday morning since people were still trying to figure out where they were?

[TomServo]

1) Charge more, sell fewer: Instead of selling 70,000 tix at $260 each, sell 60,000 at $360 each. It's still excellent value for the lineup, and it still represents a small fraction of the cost of attending the festival for the many, many people who come from out of town (or state, or country). You would gross an extra $3.4 million ($21.6 mill to $18.2 mill), which could be used for the following initiatives:

Coachella has (had?) a unique vibe among festivals because of its relaxed atmosphere, manageable crowd, great amenities and tight organization I think that vibe is worth preserving.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I realize this is the Coachella board, so we're all into this festival and its amazing possibilities, but $360 is absolutely NOT an excellent value for a three-day festival. Period. Voodoo Festival = $99. Bumbershoot just over $100. Those lineups are too crappy and not comparable? Fine... Lollapalooza is under $200, and has a fantastic lineup every year.

Maybe for a single dude camping with friends, $360 might seem like a good enough deal - but that costs folks like me over $1k just to get in the door. Sure, I'm spending the same on airfare to Chicago or New Orleans or wherever for other festivals... but those aren't located in the middle of the desert.

Don't kid yourself - there is a point that this festival prices itself out of all but the biggest die-hards. You may still get 60k - but you'll have so many rich ravers and bros that the festival will lose the vibe you long to retain.

Oh, and at $360 + ticketing fees, you're really looking at almost $400.

[anonimouse]

Or just don't sell 75k tickets when there's no fucking space for 75k people.

this x75k

[chucky canuck]

the capacity is above 70,000

but I think many people would be willing to pay more for a smaller crowd.

[frazzles]

No one gives a fuck if the polo fields can technically hold upwards to 85k people. That shit isn't comfortable and it puts an extreme hindrance on trying to see acts.

And really, asking people to pay more for fewer people is a fucking cop out. Coachella was doing fine without upping the capacity for no fucking reason. It's already the most expensive festival in the country, I do believe.

[chucky canuck]

I'd pay more to watch security beat back the douchebag gate-crashers

[Radiohead]

Why don't they just sell 10 tickets for $2.5 million each? PROBLEM SOLVED.

[chucky canuck]

Why don't they just sell 10 tickets for $2.5 million each? PROBLEM SOLVED.

Because no one can afford $2.5 million, but the vast majority of people can afford an extra $33 per day for a three-day festival.

Raise ticket prices, hire more entrance staff (to speed people through lineups) and hire more perimeter security, (to keep the gate-crashers out). That way, whatever limit of tix is set is really the limit.

[Corporate Cannibal]

oh hell no -- what kind of person asks to be charged more? (...and $100 more.) no way.

if GV cannot figure this out at the current already high price of admission, then tough shit for them. we are there for the music and the experience, not to realize some corporate f-ck's vision of BIGGER, BIGGER, MORE, MORE.

it's GV's responsibility to walk the fine line of maintaining the quality of the product (the festival) while figuring out how to increase their profits themselves. anyone suggesting, in effect, that we all "chip in" and pay higher prices just so GV can maintain the product AND increase their profits is... well, it's just idiotic. who in the hell said that a bigger festival would be a better festival? not me. it's an assumption that GV made and i personally disagree.

if GV wants more money coming into the fest, then they better get to figuring out how to sell ad space in the port-o-potties or have more State Farm and Subway $5 foot long airplanes flying overhead or SOMETHING, because an increase in ticket prices is NOT welcome here.

[chucky canuck]

anyone suggesting, in effect, that we all "chip in" and pay higher prices just so GV can maintain the product AND increase their profits is... well, it's just idiotic. who in the hell said that a bigger festival would be a better festival?

You've misunderstood completely. I'm not suggesting a way to increase profits and I'm arguing AGAINST a bigger festival. I'm suggesting a way to preserve the festival as it was prior to this year. There will be more and more gatecrashers as the festival gets a bigger rep....anyone who knows anything about music festivals will remember what Glasto went through.

I'm suggesting the price increase in order to speed up entrance lines, to keep hundreds or thousands of gatecrashers out, and to enhance the amenities for the fans. Coachella will still sell out at the higher price, especially if it continues to wipe the floor lineup-wise with every other festival in North America.
You are free to vote with your feet and opt for a muddy, disorganized, lesser-lineup festival. There are already plenty of those.

[Radiohead]

Because no one can afford $2.5 million, but the vast majority of people can afford an extra $33 per day for a three-day festival.

Raise ticket prices, hire more entrance staff (to speed people through lineups) and hire more perimeter security, (to keep the gate-crashers out). That way, whatever limit of tix is set is really the limit.

Did you really respond to this as if it was a serious suggestion? Really?

[C DUB YA]

I had no issues with the crowd size.

this also reads as... "this was my first Coachella"

[75 Miles]

Did gate-crashing really hurt anyone's good time?

Well, it didn't hurt my good time, really... but it did hurt when some guy leaped a fence and came crashing down on top of me as I waited in line for one of the nice bathrooms.

[MarkO]

.................. Maybe for a single dude camping with friends, $360 might seem like a good enough deal - but that costs folks like me over $1k just to get in the door. .........

+1

Coachella is a $1k+ weekend for me as it is. There is no way I'd pay ~$400 for a ticket, I don't care who plays.

[chucky canuck]

I also pay more than $1,000 to attend (airfare,hotel,car,etc). And I'm less likely to do so if the festival is overcrowded with several hours' wait for parking, entry, etc. The extra $100 is a small percentage of the overall cost, and most people spend that on beer or merch over the weekend.

The fact is, the festival is now a magnet for gate-crashing douchebags (and PF has said the ticketless were a big factor in the traffic/parking problem). So, with the festival being as huge as it is, how else do they control crowds, gate-crashing without major security upgrades and extra staff? Those cost money.

Look at what Glasto resorted to, after tens of thousands of people gatecrashed in one year -- a superfence and security staff well outside the event checking all cars for people with tix.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2002549.stm

[CellarOwl]

There were security problems with gatecrashing, but that has less to do with security and more to do with Coachella's demand far exceeding what it can supply. If you change the rules, just as many people will try finding other ways in. The only way to alleviate these problems you're mentioning is to turn the Polo Fields into a prison yard. People will always find ways of getting up in your shit, deal with it or don't go next year.