Wilco at Merriweather

Hey, all.

I'm in a bit of a predicament (kind of). I have tickets to the Wilco show at Merriweather for next thursday. However, it looks like I absolutely cannot get out of work like I planned to. Does anyone know either of the following answers?

1. What are the set times? I posted this in the FAQ section a week ago and, alas, no response.

2. What is traffic like heading to Merriweather from Tyson's Corner at around 6pm and later?

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the help!

Gates at 5:00 PM.
Show starts ~90 minutes later.
Low - 6:30
Wilco - 8:00 (ish)

If you leave Tysons at 6:00, you have a little better than 50/50 chance of making it by 8:00.

Originally posted by yohansen5b:
2. What is traffic like heading to Merriweather from Tyson's Corner at around 6pm and later?

absolutely horrible.

i'm hoping to leave downtown DC by 5pm and i'm not really expecting to be plopped down on the lawn by the time low goes on around 6:30pm.

so, as a humongous wilco fan and a resident of the tysons' area, if i cannot leave until 6pm, or even later, should i even try?

thanks for those responses, by the way. they've been the more helpful advice i've heard about the show yet.

also, since 495 sucks – is there a better alternative?

At the time you are leaving, there is no alternative.

just dont try taking 29 straight up from DC area cause i've heard so many horror stories.

i know i take the rt 175 Exit from 95 (though i come from the north) and that will take you right to merriweather…without any real traffic once exiting the highway.

495 i cant help you with though :(

also, are you sure those times are right ggw?

first of all, the site lists wilco, low "and more". and putting wilco on at 8 would leave for an early night at the pavilion.

something tells me there are going to be 3 bands, unless you've heard officially otherwise.

i just work there, i'll be the last to know whats actually going on!! ;)

oh man, if there's a third band, i feel i'm golden. i really don't want to sell my tickets and find out i could have made it afterall.

who would know the answers to these mysteries??

The shows at Merriweather have to be over by 10:30/11:00 b/c of the noise ordinance put worth by the rich bitchy neighbors.

if you don't want to go up 29 to 175, you can take 32 towards Clarksville, take the Cedar Lane exit (stay to the right). Follow until you get to Little Patuxent Parkway. Take a right onto Hickory Ridge (about 1.5 miles up the road) and that will take you straight into Merriweather's parking lot.

If you're coming from Tyson's, the traffic will be terrible, but you still might make it.

Originally posted by K8teebug:
The shows at Merriweather have to be over by 10:30/11:00 b/c of the noise ordinance put worth by the rich bitchy neighbors.

11pm is the curfew.

Originally posted by le sonick:
also, are you sure those times are right ggw?

Not at all.

Originally posted by le sonick:
just dont try taking 29 straight up from DC area cause i've heard so many horror stories.

i know i take the rt 175 Exit from 95 (though i come from the north) and that will take you right to merriweather…without any real traffic once exiting the highway.

really? i was talking about this with a cabbie last night, and he kept telling me to just take 29 right up there

the problem for people coming from downtown DC is that BW Parkway / 295 is pretty much out of the question because the traffic is just so horrible trying to get onto the BW Parkway from NY Ave, and then it's backed up all the way to baltimore

i feel like coming from downtown and going out new hampshire ave and hooking up with 29 just past 495 would be better than doing the same thing but getting on 495–>95N and taking that up to 32 and cutting west … when going to merriweather in the past, 32 has been REALLY backed up

Originally posted by K8teebug:
if you don't want to go up 29 to 175, you can take 32 towards Clarksville, take the Cedar Lane exit (stay to the right). Follow until you get to Little Patuxent Parkway. Take a right onto Hickory Ridge (about 1.5 miles up the road) and that will take you straight into Merriweather's parking lot.

so does this help avoid the usual crippling traffic as you get close to Merriweather?

Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:

Originally posted by K8teebug:
if you don't want to go up 29 to 175, you can take 32 towards Clarksville, take the Cedar Lane exit (stay to the right). Follow until you get to Little Patuxent Parkway. Take a right onto Hickory Ridge (about 1.5 miles up the road) and that will take you straight into Merriweather's parking lot.

so does this help avoid the usual crippling traffic as you get close to Merriweather?

i realize that i drive there much earlier than most concert attendees, but there is never any traffic close to Merriweather.

perhaps if you were going to a large show, one that perhaps sold out or something.

this show is bound to have about 5,000 people at it, tops. i cant believe you're going to run into traffic problems because of it.


i guess its just coming from DC.

I was thinking that people coming from DC would run into beltway traffic.

I live about 2 miles from Merriweather, so I don't usually run into any :)

But, that's a back way that would get you around the 29 traffic, just in case there is some.

Originally posted by le sonick:
this show is bound to have about 5,000 people at it, tops. i cant believe you're going to run into traffic problems because of it.

true, i just have horrible memories seared into my brain from a radiohead show a few years back … took about 3 hours to get there from DC, about an hour of it was waiting on either 29 or 32 (can't remember which) to get into the merriweather area

Originally posted by le sonick:
just dont try taking 29 straight up from DC area cause i've heard so many horror stories.

would you recommend 95 –> 32 rather than right up 29 from DC?

Why are you asking someone from Baltimore for his DC driving rush hour driving recommendations? :roll:

Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:

Originally posted by le sonick:
just dont try taking 29 straight up from DC area cause i've heard so many horror stories.

would you recommend 95 –> 32 rather than right up 29 from DC?

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
Why are you asking someone from Baltimore for his DC driving rush hour driving recommendations? :roll:

because: (a) he fucking works at merriweather, i assume he's heard about good routes from other employees or some shit, (b) he specifically told me not to take 29 from DC

goddamn.

Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:

Originally posted by le sonick:
this show is bound to have about 5,000 people at it, tops. i cant believe you're going to run into traffic problems because of it.

true, i just have horrible memories seared into my brain from a radiohead show a few years back … took about 3 hours to get there from DC, about an hour of it was waiting on either 29 or 32 (can't remember which) to get into the merriweather area

yeah, thats the show i figured you were referring to.

as for my suggestion, even though i am from Baltimore, haha.

if you take 95 to 32, you end up on 29 anyway. and from what i gather, you're probably only hitting immense traffic on either because of concert traffic(pf which i predict there to be little of). here's why:

the directions posted on the website lead you directly into the parking lot from Broken Land Parkway, which means, you end up in this 20 mile long line to get to into the lot. and with 12,000 cars going into one entrance of a parking lot, it can cause problems.

That said, taking 95 to 175 and coming in from the north you can park in the mall parking lot and walk over (this makes it easier after the show too). this way you'll avoid almost all concert traffic since its not the directions listed on the website. and i bet its about all of 4 miles longer that way.

of course, if you park in the main lot, you'll get to see me on the way in ;)

i cant believe i wrote that much about driving to merriweather.