Sweetlife Festival

So what did everybody think?

It was a miserable experience for our group and I don't think Sweetlife was prepared for running a festival. The pavilion being GA was a complete nightmare. If you wanted to get concessions or use the bathroom, you were SOL on getting back to your seats as there was a huge line of people trying to enter the pavilion. Missed all of Crystal Castles while waiting in line to re-enter. Once I rejoined my wife, I had to restrain myself from going to the bathroom again for nearly three hours since I didn't want to deal with that fiasco a second time.

Props to ThatGuy and others for keeping their cool as there were a ton of temperamental individuals giving the staff grief for trying to re-enter the pavilion. Add the rain into the mix and you have a lot of angry folks.

We also had a difficult time finding food, and this was around 6pm! We ended up buying whatever was available since we were starving by that point. That's unacceptable for a so-called music festival. 

Driving in and out of Merriweather was painless. Props to the parking staff.

The venue can only do so much, but this was all on the organizer. Last year's Virgin Fest should be the baseline on how to run a music fest at Merriweather. Operations were efficient and the experience was all-around pleasant.

Oh yeah, and the music. The Strokes were solid. Couldn't ask for a better setlist and they sounded terrific. Lupe put on a very energetic set, and despite how much the new album sucks, the new material sounded great live. It's amazing how big Girl Talk has got. Not my thing these days but the place was going bananas.

I was actually really impressed with the sound. Props to Seth on whatever improvements were made. Hopefully Sweetlife is aware of the problems because there is a lot they can improve upon between now and next year.

There were definitely some clusterf*ck-like situations there.  The crowds we saw trying to get into the seats were insane.  We splurged for the VIP tickets and I guess it was worth having a guaranteed seat in that section on the side of the pavilion (and getting into the pit at the end), but not much else.  The bar they operated in that "backstage" area was quite possibly the slowest line I have ever witnessed in my life.  Sorely understaffed.

I've never been to the Virgin FreeFest but I'm puzzled by the idea of making the whole place GA.  It just seems to beg for logistical problems like you described (not getting back to your seat after a bathroom trip, etc..)

The Strokes were great anyway.

we got there early and enjoyed walking around. getting food. drinks.  Had general admission.
thought u.s. royalty, walk on the moon, theophilus london..they were awesome. :)
ra ra riot sounded samey. 
then when out to get a drink and pee.
and couldn't get back in.  it sucked. being pushed and all.
but made it in for crystal castles..and was too afraid to drink my beer
cause then i would have to pee. my poor friend had to pee for 2 hours. hahah.
I mean it made sense. you can't let all those people in! just sucked that there was no where to pee.

the freefest is awesome because you have three stages!  more restrooms.

i thought this festival was great. the quick changup  of new acts. cool!

i'm over girltalk. i've seeen better dj's than that guy. he was okay towards the end. but lame!

missed the strokes cause we had to pee, it was freezing, and we wanted to get out. haha

David Arquette was there.  So this could quickly turn into Coachella East.

Brian

I thought it was good for what it was.  I knew the pit would be a mess it they weren't going to clear it after every band.  So I paced my drinking  ;D  I thought Walk The Moon was good, Ra Ra Ra Riot was ok, Cold War Kids ok, Crystal Castles were pretty good considering it's that girl just having a seizure while screaming.  Lupe was the best of the show.  He had the crowd going and good energy.  The Strokes were good too.  Girl Talk, I'm sick of it already  ;D

I had a good time. The music was well worth it, and I enjoyed all the free stuff. It was a clusterfuck in the pit, though, and I felt like it was a fire hazard at times.

Modern Man: Sucks. After 1.5 songs, I was off to find free stuff (apple, orange, chips, granola, hot dog) and save some for my free tote. It came in handy later in the pit. :)
U.S. Royalty: Enjoyable. Their music is actually pretty solid, but the shtick is a bit cheesy. Lose the outfits.
Walk the Moon: Fair. I missed half the set hanging out in the VIP Lounge, getting free chips and listening to the DJ.
Theophilus London: Not good. I watched 3 songs and decided he blows. Played GNR Pinball.
Ra Ra Riot: NOW the pit started getting full. I missed most of the set, which didn't seem good, to get food and use the bathroom for the only time of the day.
Cold War Kids: They rocked. Nice energy. "Hang Me Out to Dry" had the first real singalong of the day. They're not amazing by any means but well worth seeing. At this point, the pit started getting overpacked with people blocking the stairs, lines forming to enter the pit, and no way for me to exit without jumping over the gate into the first row.
Crystal Castles: What the hell? So insanely loud but mesmerizing. Alice Glass has little talent, but there were glimpses of pretty rad music. The crowd was bananas.
Lupe Fiasco: Reminds me of 311 in that he knows exactly how to use rock-rap to entertain a crowd. He's got some talent but some of the songs were awful. My friend was blown away.
Girl Talk: Eh. It's fun but very very weird to see people in an amphitheater enjoying mashups. The set lacked consistency for me. I left the pit during his set.
The Strokes: Great performance. I'm glad they played "Life is Simple in the Moonlight" and "NYC Cops." I was hoping for "You're So Right" but can't complain. I'm glad I finally saw them. They were worth everything.

I had a great time, despite the rain.  Virgin fest was the same exact way for the GA pavilion btw.  I stayed on the lawn the entire time - never had any problems getting beer, food, or using the bathrooms.

my only disappointment was that it seemed crystal castles only played 30 minutes instead of the 50 minutes that was on the schedule…..the schedule was running behind a bit so crystal castles didn't go on until 5pm instead of 4:40.  oh well.

Lupe Fiasco was awful…he rapped over prerecorded auto-tuned, vocal backing tracks. Ohh, the empowerment theme of his songs are as predictable as Katy Perry songs.

Girl Talk is the biggest douche in the planet for wasting SOOO much toilet paper at EACH and EVERY show. (Imagine this guy doing 200 shows a year and multiply that with 4-6 rolls of toilet paper).

The Strokes sounded GREAT!  LOVED IT x1000. Julian made the best heartfelt remark about the crowd and he gave it ALL during the last song.

Vas wrote:
Girl Talk is the biggest douche in the planet for wasting SOOO much toilet paper at EACH and EVERY show. (Imagine this guy doing 200 shows a year and multiply that with 4-6 rolls of toilet paper).

I think it's closer to 40 - 60 rolls per show than 4 - 6