Radiohead @ Merriweather

I tried to get Pit tix and ended up w/ LAWN.
How pissed am I after being totally screwed at the Bullrun show. I had a spot right in front of Thom belly hitting the stage. and then the frickin rain.

anyways

anyone know how good/bad lawn seats are at Merri?

and more importantly any backroad directions so i can miss some traffic! what time are you guys leaving?

also,

are there sections for lawn seats as well. i just viewed a map that had left/right/center lawn

lawn seats are crap. as far as i know they are GA, ive never seen the lawn section divided into sections

the lawn is not divided into sections – probably just an accounting method for tickets sold.

as for the back roads – 29 goes straight up to merriweather - exit on broken land parkway - signs for the pavilion are posted

Not to ruin your day further Cal, but given the weather of the last month, the lawn probably won't be in the best shape, so I'd highly recommend bringing a blanket or something to reduce the inevitable muddyness on your ass.

And I'm happy with my tix.

The lawn is not very good unfortunately. Acoustics suck and your at the weather's mercy. So getting there early might not realy make a huge difference although I will probably be going early just to avoid traffic and try to get in the center section.

Last time I was there I went to see Travis open up for Dildo and it rained cats and dogs. Luckily I had a big tarp that my GF and I sat on and pulled over our heads like a tent. What a life saver, I just hope mother nature is kind to us this time. And yeah, I left after Travis because Dido made me want to vomit.

Originally posted by mjnova:
Not to ruin your day further Cal, but given the weather of the last month, the lawn probably won't be in the best shape, so I'd highly recommend bringing a blanket or something to reduce the inevitable muddyness on your ass.

And I'm happy with my tix.

Blanket Hell! Better bring plastic. All that moisture will soak right through a blanket.

Originally posted by Jaguär:
Blanket Hell! Better bring plastic. All that moisture will soak right through a blanket.

Yeah, ponchos tend to be good things to sit on.

mjnova

do you have good tix or lawn seats like me

i think a tarp sounds good

is parking at the mall still an option?
(last merriweather show I saw was in 96)

It worked for me there last year, and is quite the preferable option IMO. You have to walk a bit more, but you can hit bars and restaurants in the area before the show and your walk back gives the traffic some time to thin out.

Are they really tearing down Merriweather next year? Damn, I hate the Nissan pavilion…

To get to Merriweather, I would not recommend going up 29, that will be a nice big parking lot for most of the day. Better to come in 95 and take the 175 exit west, that road will follow around until it reaches Merriweather (after crossing 29 and then several lights). I park at my parents house and walk the mile there, but then again I am local.

I don't know anything, nor have heard anything, about tearing the place down, hell it has been around for 35 years, an institution, where the Who had a big riot in the early 70's. Some classic concerts were recorded there (Jackson Browne and I think Bob Seager). Yeah, not to everyone's tastes, but I did see the Replacements there, and lots of other cool bands.

Merriweather isn't ideal but it's a lot better than anything N.VA has to offer. I've seen tons of shows there…Moz, Bowie, Mellencamp (I know!) Don Henley (I know again!!) Cure, Squeeze, Smithereens, Beautiful South, to name a few…actually, Mellenhead puts on a fine show and I got the album the Scarecrow after that which is a pretty good album.

Originally posted by Sir HC:

where the Who had a big riot in the early 70's.

where DIDN'T the Who have a big riot in the early 70's is my question!

I went to my first concert ever at Merriweather in 1988…Aerosmith/Guns N Roses!!! haha. But I have seen plenty of bands there, Poison, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx, Jewel, and Pearl Jam.
I have also seen some good shows there.

The Merriweather closing thing came from another thread. I don't see it happening either. By far my favorite "large" venue in the area.

Originally posted by sonickteam2:

Originally posted by Sir HC:

where the Who had a big riot in the early 70's.

where DIDN'T the Who have a big riot in the early 70's is my question!

This one was classic, they tore up all the seats in the Pavillion (the audience, not the Who). Merriweather didn't allow rock shows for about 2 years until Pink Floyd (Dark Side of The Moon tour I believe) made it back in.

Originally posted by cal:
mjnova

do you have good tix or lawn seats like me

i think a tarp sounds good

Seats luckily, but I've seen a few shows on the lawn (REM, Depeche Mode) and still had an excellent time.

Also, if they tore down Merriweather I'd just stop going to big shows altogether. Nissan and Bull Run aren't worth the trek and I have horrible luck with MCI (the last couple of times I've been there I've had litterally the worst seats in the house, in the veeeeeery back). When I saw Zwan up in Towson or wherever that was, it was like being in a barn.

Originally posted by mjnova:

Originally posted by cal:
mjnova

do you have good tix or lawn seats like me

i think a tarp sounds good

Seats luckily, but I've seen a few shows on the lawn (REM, Depeche Mode) and still had an excellent time.

Also, if they tore down Merriweather I'd just stop going to big shows altogether. Nissan and Bull Run aren't worth the trek and I have horrible luck with MCI (the last couple of times I've been there I've had litterally the worst seats in the house, in the veeeeeery back). When I saw Zwan up in Towson or wherever that was, it was like being in a barn.

Zwan???? and Ben Harper is a pox on music? lol.

the Towson center is a bad place to see music. I saw Tribe Called Quest there years ago, and they were horrible sounding. Oh and you forgot about the mecca of live music, the Patriot Center!! hahaha. It is a shame that theres not many good large venues around.

Merriweather isnt too bad, I have tickets for the Iron Maiden show coming up, I caught Black Sabbath there back in 1999, and I think Live/PJ Harvey a few years before that. I live in NOVA and Nissan is still a massive trek for me along the parking lot that is 66 to pay such outrageous prices. Ditto on the MCI Center, easier to get to, but I have a hard time justifying 50 bucks for nosebleeds in that place…