Coachella amps up security

[gaypalmsprings]

Coachella amps up security

The festival attempts to prevent gate-crashing and combat counterfeiting with a perimeter fence, police checkpoints, encrypted wristbands — even private investigators.

Fans with tickets for camping line up to be checked by security before entering the 2011 Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival. Officials say security will be amped up this year. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

April 14, 2011
The three-day Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is not one that would seem in need of a tune-up. After all, the 2011 edition, which opens Friday and will be headlined by the likes of rap star Kanye West and indie-rock heavyweights the Arcade Fire, sold-out in a record six days.

But the 2010 edition had its share of fissures. Thousands of gate-crashers cut through the fencing and holders of counterfeit tickets got past overburdened security, swelling the crowd to some 15,000 beyond the permitted capacity and creating what a festival security official called "a borderline riot situation."

Goldenvoice, the AEG subsidiary company that produces the event, has responded with a major upgrade in security and infrastructure, creating a nearly mile-wide fenced perimeter around the festival grounds that will be open only to paying customers wearing festival-issued encrypted wristbands, enforced by police checkpoints. The company also is working with the city of Indio to add and upgrade roads, hoping to minimize traffic jams stemming from the tightened entry controls. The will call and central ticket office will be off-site, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Paul Tollett, the festival's architect and head of Goldenvoice, said shifting the entry points farther from the music stages and keeping out gate-crashers is intended to improve the experience of what has become the premiere rock festival in the West.

"We don't want it to feel when you're inside that it's a prison," Tollett said. "It has to feel very pleasant. Part of that pleasantness is you cannot have a bunch of people come in for free. Those who pay have to get the experience, and we can't have people getting in for free."

Last year, Goldenvoice and Indio police were expecting somewhere in the range of 75,000 to 80,000 people per day. Tollett concedes the actual number was closer to 105,000. Indio permits allow for up to 90,000 people on Coachella grounds.

"We put a new fence in last year, and we saw all the chain-link cut all the way around the grounds," Tollett said. "Then we knew this was serious. We found bolt cutters. Not a couple holes. I mean, Swiss cheese. And we were like, 'We need to fix this.' We knew it was bad, but we didn't know how bad."

Tait Reimers, a former Navy SEAL who's worked festival security the last two years, said that 2010 was "definitely a tough year from the year before," and he called the security breakdown "a borderline riot situation." This year, Goldenvoice shipped out wristbands relatively close to the festival date, and each is embedded with an identifying computer chip to prevent counterfeits or duplicates from entering the grounds. Reimers says he is "optimistic" about this year's fest.

There are fears that the checkpoints will further snarl traffic, which already was a problem, with some fans reporting four-hour waits. Tollett didn't say offhand how many checkpoints there would be, but he ensured there will be multiple entry points into the fest, and Benjamin Guitron, a spokesman for the Indio Police Department, believes Goldenvoice's plan will make entry to the grounds easier.

"About a mile outside of the event, [Goldenvoice's] security, along with law enforcement, will be out there checking every car, that's the intent," Guitron said. "It's not gonna be an open free flow, there will be some delays. But the way we have it planned it should help us make things flow."

Tollett also said the festival has reduced the number of passes handed out to the media and even to performers.

"We've had to completely change how we do that and media-ticket giveaways — radio stations and such," Tollett said. "We cut most of that out, if not all. Everyone has to purchase their tickets. I got two people in this year — my daughter and her cousin."

The tougher ticketing policies could be contributing to increased complaints of counterfeiting. Goldenvoice has responded by using its website to advise fans on how to spot phony tickets and by hiring

outside private investigators to track down counterfeiters.

"We get people calling saying, 'This person is making fake wristbands.' So what do you do? Just let that go?" Tollett said.

Meanwhile, the quick sellout — last year the last ticket didn't go until the week of the event — has created a secondary market.

Kevin Chan, 21, who splits time between La Habra and China but regularly attends Coachella,

took advantage of the situation. "It's, like, a no-brainer. I bought three tickets. One for me and two to resell. I sold the first ticket for like $450 to a friend. I paid, like … $330."

His third ticket is still up for grabs. "I'm trying to sell it for a higher price — it's going for about $600. Whatever people will put up."

Tollett said that's a problem the festival probably will try to address next year. He acknowledged he's still adjusting somewhat to the increasing success of his brainchild.

"Our attitude up until two years ago was more, 'If we can just sell these tickets I will be happy.'"

todd.martens@latimes.com

deborah.vankin@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

[gaypalmsprings]

Best quote: Last year, Goldenvoice and Indio police were expecting somewhere in the range of 75,000 to 80,000 people per day. Tollett concedes the actual number was closer to 105,000.

[Suffacated]

It's about fucking time!

[nationocean]

it better not feel like a prison.. that's the fine line. treating your PAYING customers poorly because of all the scammers and freeloaders

[JustSteve]

Tollett concedes the actual number was closer to 105,000.


Kevin Chan, 21, who splits time between La Habra and China but regularly attends Coachella,

took advantage of the situation. "It's, like, a no-brainer. I bought three tickets. One for me and two to resell. I sold the first ticket for like $450 to a friend. I paid, like … $330."

His third ticket is still up for grabs. "I'm trying to sell it for a higher price — it's going for about $600. Whatever people will put up."

yikes.


and fuck kevin chan.

[nationocean]

"We've had to completely change how we do that and media-ticket giveaways — radio stations and such," Tollett said. "We cut most of that out, if not all. Everyone has to purchase their tickets. I got two people in this year — my daughter and her cousin."

PAUL IS LEGIT!

[JustSteve]

i try and tell people about who we have running this festival, they are the best.

[nationocean]

a NAVY SEAL y'all!

[BeaverCat]

+5 gold stars to GPS.

[Suffacated]

who is a Navy Seal?

[gaypalmsprings]

who is a Navy Seal?

Tait Reimers. He's doing security at the Salton Sea.

[kroqken]

The two main security companies are CSC (yellow uniforms) and Staff Pro (blue uniforms). They also hire some dudes from the military.

[artisticcreator]

I like the thought of tighter security outside! I just hope they are still chill on the inside!

[thefrush]

If I meet Kevin Chan I am pounding his face in.

[kroqken]

If I meet Kevin Chan I am pounding his face in.

Is he related to Charlie Chan or Jackie Chan? Jackie Chan made his American film debut in the Cannonball Run in 1981. I have a feeling TomAZ saw it in the theatre.

[gaypalmsprings]

Probably related to Cherita Chan.

[stellarpoet22]

Can I still sneak in my weed

[frizzlefry]

Hey, tried to search for it but I just can't remember which thread had the aerial maps that highlighted the predicted border of the checkpoints. Will the Ralph's on Jefferson be behind the checkpoints? This was supposed to be a meeting spot for my group, I would assume that they would keep it open to the outisde public but this article really implies that GV is not fucking around this year.

[thedude15]

"Tollett said that's a problem the festival probably will try to address next year. He acknowledged he's still adjusting somewhat to the increasing success of his brainchild."

how far would they go with this.

Clearly they should not sell camping passes individually. It makes no sense. You need a wristband to camp so just make it a requirement to buy a wristband with the camping.

If you look at scalping this year the camping passes were the money makers. Even during the down time people got 200 for them (ie 100% profit). Wristband (even with the sell out) were really not that great of an item to scalp. They cost 310 and a reasonable profit this year was 200 (some people got more). A 66% profit is really not that amazing. It is good but not great.

My vote
1. Make people register when they buy passes. Coachella staff would then check your ID to make sure it matches the pass. If this cost extra add a nominal fee to the pass.
2. Allow for refunds (if someone buys a pass but then can not go) up until a week before the event. Have a charge scale some like cancel 4 mths or more in advance $25 charge, 2-3 mths $50 charge, less a mth $100 charge. If someone cancels there pass get deactivated (if orders were already sent).
3. Ship pass 1 mth prior (I mean ship ie they packing process would already be done). No need to ship the wristbands out 4 mths in advance BUT everyone should get the pass at least 2 weeks in advance.

[frizzlefry]

Sounds good, except for the fees for the refunds imo. Registration is probably the best way to eliminate scalping, the only problem with that though is the nightmare of ID checks and what counts as a proper ID.

[dancefreak]

Reduce the max number you can buy from 6 to 2. Publicize it a very long time in advance so the handful of real fans it impacts can make alternate plans. Do a super early bird layaway that starts a few months earlier so theres not an excuse for anyone to wait to buy a ticket because of cost. Add on a fee to those who DONT buy layaway to cover costs. Link every RFID to a real name and set up an interface where you can check status from any computer. Let people transfer ownership for a fee. Yes...you would still have a few scalpers but there would be far less and it would virtually eliminate the fake ticket problem for anyone with a brain.

[guedita]

105,000

Holy hell. Seriously, fuck you to all the people who were claiming that there couldn't have been more than a few hundred people tops that sneaked in last year. That number + the knowledge of the new wristband/security system makes me feel much better about how things will be run this year.

JustSteve - I agree with you. I know that this is a festival that aims to improve and to fix problems.

[hydr1]

Told you....im always right.

[Miroir Noir]

Thanks for posting, GPS. Hopefully this will avert a clusterfuck sequel. Is Washington all the way to 52nd still the way to go this year?

[GuyInTucson]

I had a feeling last year's attendance was over 100,000 people. Anyone who has been to a large-scale sporting event has been around crowds as big as 75,000 people in smaller areas than the polo fields and it doesn't feel as congested as last year did.

[greghead]

Told you....im always right.

Told us what?

[megastar]

"Borderline riot situation?!?" Wait until the merch tent runs out of Skrillex lunchboxes, then talk to me about borderline riot situations.

[kronz420]

Thanks for posting, GPS. Hopefully this will avert a clusterfuck sequel. Is Washington all the way to 52nd still the way to go this year?

Its always the way to go... But dont tell everyone lol

[socalguy100]

I was surprised to see that there were 105,000 there last year. I only counted 104,000.

[thedude15]

Sounds good, except for the fees for the refunds imo. Registration is probably the best way to eliminate scalping, the only problem with that though is the nightmare of ID checks and what counts as a proper ID.

Would you say no fees for refunds or just no refunds period?