Coachella 2012 Breaks Attendance Record

[loopy]

I think the scanners went down one day in 2010 and anyone with a kinks color photocopied wristband got waved through the front gates. Plus the year before still had walk-up tickets at the box office.

I was just talking about this with a friend. It's crazy to me that it was just three years ago that somebody could walk up to the box office and buy a ticket day-of.

[indietron]

I think I posted about it earlier, but we parked in Lot 14 all 3 days (coming down Monroe from the freeway seemed to work great!). It never more than a few minutes to get in or out. We also never had any wait at the security checks.

This. Lot 14 was magic.

I think the acts you see really determine your perception of how crowded the festival is. If the majority of the bands you're seeing are those that everyone else wants to see (M83, Gotye, Afrojack, etc), then you're going to run into massive crowds all weekend. The majority of the acts I saw, however, had fairly smaller crowds. Jeff Mangum, Sean Kuti, Wu Lyf, Explosions, and Wild Beasts to name just a few. It just depends on who you're seeing.

[Lynn163]

Week 2 is more crowded than Week 1. I love Hotchella.

It looks like from the pictures I've seen posted this weekend.

[frizzlefry]

Crowds for the acts I wanted to see were for the most fairly sparse which was amazing. The most crowded acts I saw that weren't headliners were The Hives, Pulp, and The Rapture and I was able to get close enough to enjoy their set without a problem. I did notice that the lines getting from camping got pretty long as the day went on. I remember always being able to just walk in for 2011 but the searches were also much more lax last year. I also remember there being more entrances opened last year for some reason too, am I wrong? Restroom and food lines were about the same, they cut down on spigots in the refillable water stations which was fucking bull shit in my opinion, made for bigger lines. Such a fucking cruel and cheap ploy to make more money, way to be green Goldenvoice.

[gaypalmsprings]

At least there was plenty of room at the water refill stations....

[anonimouse]

iany more than this and it'll be too much

this x1000000

[tmac]

At least there was plenty of room at the water refill stations....

it was incredible how hit and miss these were. half the time there was 20 people waiting for each faucet. the other half there wasn't anyone waiting.

[Originalbob]

Day parking wasn't too bad, only if you arrived early. Leaving after you've arrived late meant you were shoved in the back and had to wait for the other closer lot (Lot 14) to fully empty before being allowed out. Happened to us Fri after dropping off the moody sister wanted to call it quits before the evening started.

The crowds didn't seem bad at all this year. The alcohol lines seemed to be a bit of a bummer whenever I wanted a drink, but that could've been my timing.

[Bumblebee]

it was incredible how hit and miss these were. half the time there was 20 people waiting for each faucet. the other half there wasn't anyone waiting.

I was done with the water in under a couple minutes all but once. Only one day around 2:30 when it was hot and people were coming thru the front gates ready to fill up their empty bottles.

[redthreat]

there are too many people now. and GV of course is too greedy to cut down on attendance numbers despite opening up another weekend. i remember a few years ago you could run to another stage if you wanted to. good luck with that now.

[CrimesceneCookie]

Sahara area was overcrowded when the sun went down. Weather or not that is a good thing depends on your point of view.
Couldn't get anywhere near M83, but I had a feeling it would be this year's Cut Copy so I wasn't surprised.
I don't have much to complain about everywhere else.

[ods..]

I keep reading about how this year's lines were better than ever. Maybe I timed things better last year or something, because every line to enter and leave was significantly longer this year (except the shuttle lines, which were again outstanding). The tents for the bigger acts seemed more crowded, as well. When we were going to stop in to hear Afrojack, the lines out the side were at least 20 people deep. I would have hated to see what it would have looked like for an actual great electronic act!

Really...? Modeselektor was amazing with great space to move around... Obviously good electronic acts won't garner as many people as the Afrojacks and Guettas of the world.

And it felt great all day on the fields this year. So many idiots who show up after 5 pm or later which leave the fields nice and empty during the entire day. The only crazy packed sets I saw this year were M83 and Frank Ocean. I steered clear of the Sahara tent completely. For the most part, the fest did not seem too crowded, but of course as the night goes on more and more people show up. Just how it is.

[malcolmjamalawesome]

Noob of the Year 2011

[ADrunkPoet]

Ever since they alleviated the bottleneck of foot traffic between the front and back of the polo grounds with the food court and additional access to Mojave and Sahara, it has not felt truly crowded to me. Until you're trying to walk out of course. I heard that people close to the front for Dre and Snoop did not get through the exit for at least an hour.

[ods..]

Noob of the Year 2011

[dancefreak]

I heard that people close to the front for Dre and Snoop did not get through the exit for at least an hour.

That's a massive exaggeration. I was close to the front and was sitting in my car--after a stop at the lockers to turn in my key--before 1230.

[Mr. Dylanja]

I thought it felt more crowded this year than last.

GV buying the property suggests that another expansion is inevitable. I wouldn't mind as long as they added another stage. Sure there's room overall inside the festival, but for me at least, the tents seemed packed at every set I went to.

[aphrael]

Really...? Modeselektor was amazing with great space to move around... Obviously good electronic acts won't garner as many people as the Afrojacks and Guettas of the world.

And it felt great all day on the fields this year. So many idiots who show up after 5 pm or later which leave the fields nice and empty during the entire day. The only crazy packed sets I saw this year were M83 and Frank Ocean. I steered clear of the Sahara tent completely. For the most part, the fest did not seem too crowded, but of course as the night goes on more and more people show up. Just how it is.

WKND1, on Friday, felt particularly sparse; lotta people couldn't be bothered to make it out in the cold.

[aphrael]

there are too many people now. and GV of course is too greedy to cut down on attendance numbers despite opening up another weekend. i remember a few years ago you could run to another stage if you wanted to. good luck with that now.

i never had a problem with this, and was able to switch from mainstage (close to the front, on the right) after bon iver to outside stage (middle close to the front, on the left) for miike snow in about 10 minutes.

[gaypalmsprings]

Boob of the Year 2011

fixed

[seitron]

it was incredible how hit and miss these were. half the time there was 20 people waiting for each faucet. the other half there wasn't anyone waiting.

I noticed that they were great the first day and terrible the last day. I wrote it off as the weather, but I think it could have possibly been related to where the water comes from and when it was filled. The first day the bottles were refilled in about 2 seconds flat, and by the end it took closer to 10 seconds to fill each one (less water pressure).

[frizzlefry]

it was incredible how hit and miss these were. half the time there was 20 people waiting for each faucet. the other half there wasn't anyone waiting.

This, except for the one near Gobi, past two I felt like that station always had a long line and the others were hit and miss. I'm not saying that it was a complete failure, the other two were generally fine, it just doesn't make sense that they would want to scale it back. Heaven forbid people weren't crowding around a single refill station at all times and money wasn't being utilized to its fullest.

[Bus McRider]

It didn't seemed to be too bad until Sunday. That shit was packed. I felt like I was struggling through an ocean of people, not even just at the stages but trying to get from one part of the fields to another. (After sunset at least.)

Last year was awesome, though.

[IzGewd]

way more people than last year. The day time acts last year weren't nearly as crowded. Attempted going to breakbot and couldn't even make it in the tent it was so crowded. Last year at that time the sahara was about half full along with every other tent.

[frizzlefry]

Go in from the right of all stages!

[CrimesceneCookie]

WKND1, on Friday, felt particularly sparse; lotta people couldn't be bothered to make it out in the cold.

I was told by a shuttle guy that W1 Friday only had about 60% attendance because of the weather.

[ods..]

Yeah, it was definitely noticeable.

[sbessiso]

That many people? here the hell was everyone? it felt so empty minus a few sets

[Lynn163]

Probably in the beer gardens. The one next to the main stage was packed with people hiding from the wind before Jimmy Cliff.