From warpedtour.com message board
supernerd1
Posted: 2002-07-29 05:41
I sent this to vans. You people should all be pissed off.
Vans-
I was unable to find a contact address on your warped tour site so I am sending this to you in the hope that it reaches the appropriate people. I recently attended the July 28 Minneapolis date of warped tour, as I have every year, and would like to say I found the entire experience to be particularly enfuriating. This year's show has left me frustrated enough to warrant a complaint at the very least. Though I have been less than satisfied with your ability to organize enjoyable festivals in years past, I found the concert and its organizers this year to be overly irresponsible, dishonest, and generally dangerous to those attending it.
With heat in excess of 90 degrees, I saw or heard of no area for kids to cool off and no place for the scores of kids sprawled out on the verge of heat exhaustion to receive medical attention. For the five dollar minimum required to purchase food and drink tickets, they could buy three and four dollar cups of ice water as vendors were obviously unable to keep anything else in stock. While some vendors carried spray bottles - the only seemingly free heat relief I could find - they would ask for tips before spraying people, and charge a dollar to kids who wanted to put their heads in ice water. You are obligated to create a safe environment at the very least and while it is not uncommon for outdoor concert promoters such as yourselves to take full advantage of kids impending heat stroke and charge six times what it cost you for a bottle of water, I have never been to a concert in comparable heat where there was not as least some sort of tent where people could receive some relief.
On top of that, you canceled the end of the show because of rain, despite the 'rain or shine' printed on the ticket and in my opinion that alone calls for a refund. I, along with most of the rest of the crowd, stood soaked in the rain and the mud for two hours as we waited for the show to continue. At no time did you inform anyone as to the status of the concert. You simply allowed people to drift out of the park without any knowledge whether the show would continue or not. I left after two hours in the rain without seeing the show continue as promised on the ticket, and I still do not know whether bands continued to play or you simply packed up and left as it appeared you were doing. Though I fully understand that you are not responsible for bad whether, your handling of that whether was, as I said, unsafe and unorganized. I have attended warped tour since it began and though I have overlooked the shameless corporate promotion at the shows, as it is probably somewhat necessary to finance such a tour, perhaps you could use some of the thirty dollar ticket price to pay for a sprinkler tent or buy equipment that actually works in the rain since you claim that warped tour will continue in 'rain or shine'. It is this kind of shameless management which leads to disasters such the one at woodstock a few years ago.
What bothers me the most is that you can present a tour which cashes in on teenage rebellion so effectively. You market products for rebellious youth who would like to be seen as 'punk' and you provide a venue for bands and products which attempt to spark some awareness and anger about greed and shameless capitalism in the minds of their teenage fans, yet I didn't hear any of them speaking against the five dollar bottles of water being sold to kids on the verge of heat stroke or the tips required before they could get some water splashed in their face. I would like to believe that the liberal bands and groups which associate themselves with this tour are simply unaware of the way you organize the shows. (Except of course the US Army whom I fully expect this behavior from... their newest promotion and affiliation with warped tour apparently attempting to convince impressionable youth that its punk to be dead... why you would set them up next to the PeTA booth is beyond me.) but frankly you are giving all of them a bad name as it seems very hypocritical to talk about the criminals running our country when there are criminals running the show they are playing at.
I have sent similar letters to the city and your sponsors in the hope that someone will explain to me why your show was so unsafe, and while I am sure you will pass the buck, hopefully someone can assure me conditions will not be this bad next year.
Thank you.
Justin Cullen-Benson
Cull0070@umn.edu
bolooki02
Posted: 2002-07-29 08:25
Hey dude-
I agree that the whole 6 tickets for piss-warm water was extreme and that the whole rain deal was mishandled, but at the same time, you need to consider a few things.
1. The rain out was something totally unable to be handled by them. If it was just a rain shower, then I bet you the bands would have continued on. But, I left as it was just getting bad, after they cut the bands off, and found that not only was Ramsey County under tornado watches, but we also had sever thunderstorm warnings and flash flood warnings. I had to wade in ankle deep water to get to my car. Also, most of the parking lots in downtown St. Paul were flooded. Once they started seeing lightning, they're concern was for the safety of the bands, since you can be electrocuted in weather like that, and who wants to see that? I was just as pissed off as you because I missed the rest of the Bosstones awesome second set on the Ernie Ball stage, and Good Charlotte's set, but what are you gonna do?
2- Yeah, food and water prices were huge, but they're like that at every show. At Ozzfest, you find that and at X-Fest you find that. That's to be expected. And quite frankly, I thought they handled things fairly well, given the circumstances. I saw no fights, no kids ready to drop because of heat, and barely any injuries (except a couple during NFG's set.)
I like coming to the Warped Tour because of the good music, good people, and endless amounts of cheap (or free) merchandise. Weather is unpredictable at best, and food prices are always high, but I still had a great time.
(By the way, did Good Charlotte end up playing or not?)
jcremin
Posted: 2002-07-29 09:39
Yes, things were disorganized. They didn't really have any plan on how to handle the rain. They should have announced it over the PA or something before they started tearing it apart. I stood in the rain for about an hour until they started packing up the equipment, then I knew it was over. It's understandable having to stop because of the windy dounpour and the lightning and tornado alerts, but they should do something to compensate all of us who didn't get to see the rest of the bands.
Also, I did see a few people in the front by different stages that were passing out. Prices were high for water, but when you are watching a band they should have a hose (like they did last year at the Blink stage) at every stage so they can wet people off. Also it isn't too much to ask for them to have a truckload of water to "take a sip and pass it down." A few of the security people were nice enough to track down some water for us while we were squished in the front of the crowd, but it shouldn't have to be their responsibility.
Hopefully they plan a little better next year and also figure out something fair to make up for stopping the show early.
biers
Posted: 2002-07-29 09:47
I too attended the Warped Tour in St.Paul. The day didn't start off too well. Doors allegedly opening up at 11am and show starting at 12pm. Well I got there at 11:15, to hear Thursday, one of the bands that I wanted to see really bad, already playing. And then as I waited in line for almost an hour and a half, I got in just to hear Hot Water Music (another band I wanted to see) just finishing their set. Other than that during the day the show was great, I had a very good time hanging out with friends and enjoying some of my favorite bands. I too thought the price of water was ridiculous and the fact that there weren't any water fountains or places to cool down was even worse. I was very excited to see NOFX and Bad Religion but then the rain started and my friends and I along with a few thousand other fans were left freezing in the rain while waiting to see if the show would go on. If there were tornado/flash flood warnings then I would have liked to know about it, so that I would have left earlier. And not stood in the rain (for the only shelter were the Biffies) for almost 2 hours. And the only thing I had to show for it was myself freezing in water-logged shorts, t-shirt, shoes and socks. And the cold I had when I went to bed last night and awoke with this morning. Other than all that I had a good time, and I would like to know if they (the people who set up the show) are doing anything to appease the crowds that were left freezing in the rain.
jcremin
Posted: 2002-07-29 10:01
Amist all the problems with rain and heat I forgot about that issue of when they started. I had a group of 7 people that wanted to see some of the first bands and we left an hour later than we originally planned because they said that music didn't start until noon. Even showing up much earlier wouldn't have helped because they didn't open the gates until right when the first bands started and it took forever to get through the line to get inside. Anything else that went wrong that we're forgetting right now?
Even with the complaints I (and others obviously have) it was great. Just some things that they should take into consideration for the sake of people coming back to warped next year!
cryssy1020
Posted: 2002-07-29 10:11
email Kevin Lyman at kevinwarped@aol.com, he is the guy that is in charge of the tour, i don't know if he'll help or whatever, but it's worth a shot
deepsicks
Posted: 2002-07-29 10:30
I just wanted to say that there WAS a cooldown space, in the northeast corner of the park--they had that pirate slip-n-slide thing plus a hose with which you could fill bottles and soak yourself down. 'Course you had to wait in line forever to get access to either, but it WAS there. Now the slide thing was cute and fun, but they really should've had a huge mister/shower thing that people could just stand under, and immediately--that is, not have to wait in line for. I did see people pass out, and not in the crowd, but just standing around. It wasn't very safe, no. But I do understand why they had to shut it down. If lightening had struck, there'd be a pile of dead bodies, both on stage and on the ground. Hell, i was standing in six inches of water--I'm surprised they didn't kick us out sooner. But they did try to wait it out--it cleared up but then got worse, and stayed worse as I drove home, so no, i couldn't expect them to continue.
After the worst of it was over (and before it started up badly again) several of the bands came out on stage and played covers, with amplification (i think?) coming through the monitors, so that was cool. overall, that was one of the most fun warped tours i've been to, sunburn and all--it sure as hell beats breathing dust and spitting mud like at Somerset, WI.
Oh wait, yes, and starting the show when people were still outside the gates and moving in s l o w l y. I heard Thursday as i was walking in and just about cried--they, too, were the main reason i came. i managed to sneak to the front though, and catch the last 3 songs. evil, huh. but yeah--that was very poor planning.
MuchLessThanJake
Posted: 2002-07-29 10:50
Honestly, are they going to do anything to compensate us? I heard that they (the Warped Tour planners) leave a couple days at the end for make-up shows, so will they be coming back, at least for us to see NOFX, Morgan Heritage (who I could care less about), Good Charlotte and Bad Religion? Or maybe a partial refund. I do agree that there was poor planning, and few cool-off stations. The least they could've done was added a few extra hoses!
craziefreak69
Posted: 2002-07-29 10:50
apparently you and i weren't at the same show. first of all there was a place to cool down they had a slip and slide and a guy would occasionally spray us down with a hose plus there was a water fountain and another hose to cool yourself down with. Plus later on in the day security brought out coolers with water in them over to the pinic table area and was giving out water for free!!!!!! plus if you wouldn't have pussed out and left after started to rain hard you would have been there for what i think was one of the coolest things. at about 6:30-6:45 nofx and flogging molly along with members of other bands came out and played a jam seesion for about an hour and half. that to me is amazing for the simple reason that any other tour's cry-baby bands would have packed up left with out a single word. not to mention that as they were leaving they told everyone to check out the website over the next couple of days cause they're going to give us all something. and for those reason i think they took a pretty volatile situation and made it one of the best concert experiences i have ever seen. so next time before you start bashing someone or something maybe you should know what your talking about first?
anchovieeh
Posted: 2002-07-29 11:27
My friends and I got to Harriet Island around 11:15. We waited an hour in the 90+ degree heat to get in. People were already passing out and getting heat related problems while waiting in line. Although Warped suplied us with a short slip n' slide type thing, you had to wait in line to get in. And if security was passing out water, they were passing it out in one part of the area, and I know it wasn't by the main stages where it was most needed. I too waited hours in the rain to see NOFX and Bad Religion play, only leaving to meet up with my friends quickly. I was very disaspointed to hear that the rest of the show had been canceled. How could they cancel the headlining acts?
Another thing about the water situation. I was very surprised to see how much the water was sold for considering many bands there are against corporate america and major corporations.. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were selling shirts that said 'Major Corporations Lie'. This is total hipocrisy. The cheapest water anybody could get was at the NOFX booth for $2.
I think Warped should either 1.refund us, or 2.have a makeup show
Minnesota- we got the double wammy.. We beared the heat for most of the day and then froze in hope to see Bad Religion, NOFX, etc. Although the rest of the show was awesome, despite the heat, we got screwed, and all of you know it.
jcremin
Posted: 2002-07-29 11:33
Yeah, there was ONE place to cool off?? They brought water to one place for a little bit and the people who happened to be there at the time got free water? You'd think they'd have some signs or something to at least let people know that. Good for that, that's excellent, but there should be places (at least near each stage) to do that. What a concept... Free water??
The jam session was awesome, and was a bonus, but it's still not what was promised for the $35 it cost per ticket. I mean, I'm not too disappointed if they don't do anything about that, it was way out of their control and if I were in charge, there is no way I would have continued music for the sake of the bands, the stage crew, and all the equipment that was there, but if there were tornado warnings they should have gotten on the PA IMMEDIATELY and said GET OUT OF THE OPEN AND FIND SOME SHELTER. That is just common sence and safty.
People have to point out this stuff so that they can improve future shows. Don't get me wrong, this one wasn't bad, but they did have some poor planning. It was also originally supposed to be at the Metrodome Lot but for some reason they moved it, which I think added to complications for them, although I think that Harriet Island is better than a parking lot anyway.
jcremin
Posted: 2002-07-29 11:36
hehe. anchovieeh, great minds think alike and post almost the same reply at the same time
anchovieeh
Posted: 2002-07-29 12:21
Yes, if there was a tornado watch/warning they should've definatly gotten onto the PA.. That was a big mistake.
biers
Posted: 2002-07-29 22:17
Any of you read Shelby's story? I want to know if I was at the same show she was. Because NOFX did not come out at 7:15 to play a few songs. I know because I stood freezing my ass off in the rain from 6:15 until around 8:15. And then I left and some of my friends who stayed, told me that short after that some people came out and did a sing-a-long thing that "wasn't worth staying for". And even with that happening "the show did not go on". It had a very weak ass attempt at appeasing the left-over fans. And there still is no excuse for not telling the crowd of the Tornado Warnings and other severe storm warnings there were.
volatiletiger
Posted: 2002-07-30 01:26
yes i was there as well... and wow. thats all i can say. getting fucking burned as hell, then soaked... that was crazy. i also almost passed out in the "line" waiting to get in... im short which was a disadvantage there. kinda scary. but yea i was pissed about nofx not playing, but they definatly should have got on the PA about that... I didnt know wether to leave or stay, but my friend raelly wanted to leave, so we left.
it was fun at first, when the rain came during flogging molly's set. but then it just got cold and soggy. too bad it had to end like that.
but it is probably safer that it was shut down... if a bad storm would have actually came, or worse yet, a tornado, i would have been even more pissed at them for NOT shutting it down... we all just should have been notified.
hopefully it will go on again next year at harriet island... the sod got all torn up from crazy mudslider peoples. heh.
-denise
anothercrappiepunkband
Posted: 2002-07-30 21:58
Were you guys at the same show as me? This was the best concert i have been to. It fuckin rocked. It started with Thursday playing at about 11:30. It was great weather for most of the day (maybe a little too hot for somepeople but i didnt mind). All the bands I saw played great and the crowd was really into them. At about 5:30, durring the end of New Found Glory's set (witch was fuckin great) it started to rain, then as Flogging Molly was playing it started to really rain, i mean really fuckin rain, hard. The bands stopped playing for awhile and alot of people ran for cover, some even left. NOFX eventully came on stage in the downpour and played a little, they were joined by Benji of Good Charlotte and played some covers. Alot of other bands were on the stage at this point and they just played to a rather large crowd in the middle of rainstorm. It was a very memerable moment. I was a little dissapointed because I didnt get to see Good Charlotte, NOFX, or Bad Religions's sets because of the rain, but its all good in the end. It really shows the true spirit of the warped tour when they all came on stage in the rainstorm and played. The crowd was really into it too. I feel sorry for all the people who were too scared to get wet and left early, They missed a great end to the show.
By the way, to all the people complianing about some tornado waring, it was just a tornado watch, there weren't even sirens going off in St. Paul.
jcremin
Posted: 2002-07-30 23:54
Why do people keep asking "are you sure you were at that show"? Duh!! Like there were other warped tour shows that same date with downpours.
Yes the concerts rocked, however we've alreay established that most of us missed Thursday and the other first bands due to them announcing that music started at noon.
And I don't care if it was a warning or a watch, they should have announced the possibility of tornadoes forming. If it had become a warning there would have been no time for anyone to get to a safe place. I have no patience for people like that. Last summer my house and most of the town I live in was ripped apart by the Siren tornado. Maybe that's what it takes to appreciate someone warning you about the danger of a tornado.
The whole jam session in the rain was cool and all, but for the fact of safety, they should have gotten all the bands and the crowd out of there.
12xu
Posted: 2002-08-03 16:53
Quote:
On 2002-07-30 23:54, jcremin wrote:
Yes the concerts rocked, however we've alreay established that most of us missed Thursday and the other first bands due to them announcing that music started at noon.
It's your own damn fault if you didn't get there early enough. I got there half an hour early, at 10:30, and had no problem getting to see the first band (Wanted Dead) play. I just don't get why people show up at 11:30 and expect it's not going to take some time to find parking and get in.
anchovieeh
Posted: 2002-08-04 09:44
People thought the bands started at 12.
volatiletiger
Posted: 2002-08-04 23:50
me and my friends got there at 10:30-10:45 but i dont htink we actually got in until about 11:30.
bourdon
Posted: 2002-08-05 19:34
I was there, too. Even though we are supposedly getting discounted tix for next year, there was no excuse for what happened. The weather went from one extreme to the other (not that anyone has control over that), the cheapest water was $2, unless you waited in line by the slip n slide forever. The tickets say rain or shine, it did both on the 28th and we all got screwed out of some great bands. NOFX and GC were two of the bands that i wanted to see the most, and ended up viewing less than a half-ass job by what was up onstage. I hope that there are improvements to the rest of the shows this year, and to the st paul one next year.
Ominae_Yu
Posted: 2002-08-08 21:34
I was advised by the 93X dj's that the bands started at 2pm and doors were at 11
So i go ahead and arrive at 11:15
By the time i got to the gates, i knew the damage
Thursday was playing which means that all the bands started at 11
Wanting to see flipsyde (who played at 11)
I was very dissapointed
I also Got a little dizzy during Reel big fish because of the lack of water, wandering around i could not find any water exept the 6 ticket water. Later i asked one of the security and he said that there was water in a building just out of reach (it was in backstage) along with public bathrooms
Here is a synopsis i wrote out the day after
"Man, that has to be the most fun ive had in years. Kick ass bands, great fans, and pouring fucking rain. I pretty much hung around the north and south stage alternating what i did. I ended up meeting up with a freind of mine, emily, and kicking it with her all day. I also saw and said hello to a a few people i knew, made a few new friends too. Here are the bands i saw and what i did at them in parentases (no order)
-Alkaline Trio (bit of the crush, wasnt into the groove yet)
-Mxpx (crush, mosh you name it)
-Reel big fish (moshed for the first 3-5 songs but almost passed out so i came out)
-Flogging molly (moshed crushed, best band on the tour, hung around after their set, some kids ended up grabbing a huge board and carrying it around, people were climbing on top and jumping off, it fucking rocked.)
I didnt have much energy today (being that i havent eaten much in a while) so it wasnt a good day for a concert, the weather didnt help 85 degrees and like 90% humidity
But once it started raining and cooling down i became hyper as hell, kicking it out to flogging molly
during flogging molly (incredible set) it just started to Pour!, like standing water on the ground everythign
It was just fucking crazy
than right before nofx was gonna come one, some guy came over a really bad mic and said that the concert was canceled due to the weather
Fuckers!
So everyone stood aroudn for a bit, than a HUGE mud fight started
so natruarlly i joined in
Than some security gaurds stopped it, threatening to call the police
So i wandered around, having random splash fights with people, sliding around in the mud
Some kids stacked up garbage cans like the cups at the fair and i slid crashing the over woo!
Than a bunch of people from the bands started hanging out on one of the stages plaing acoustic songs with just guitars and stuff "
Meh i am kinda pissed about the whole cancellation thing, they could have at least waited with the bands
And when they said "check out the web site" i found nothing for the next week and odds are they will forget about this by next year and we wont be awwarded anything special
Meh oh well, it just goes to show you NEVER cancel a punk show
From warped2002.com message board
Pretty Vaccant
Posted - 07/30/2002 : 14:59:29
For those of you who left because it rained, Nofx did come back out. First they were talking about trying to play the next day, and that they were talking to the promoter. The crowd got in a huge mud fight it was fucking awesome. And all the vendors packed up and left. The crowd was cheering and chanting for everything and everyone. They were chanting for Nofx, the rodies, Rain or Shine, the thunder, the lighting, and the mud. Then after about an hour of no one being on stage, Fat Mike, El Hefe, and Eric Melvin came out. They had one mic, one guitar, and a bass. The monitors weren't on so they just cranked there amps. They played a Bad Religion cover, and 3 strip down versions of Straight Edge, Louise, and then Buggly Eyes. Then they had some of there Rastafarian friends come out and play like 3 Bob Marley covers. Then the monitors turned on, after that all the headlining artists came out on stage to watch them play. The guy form Fogging Molly came out and they did 2 more Bob Marley covers. Then they had Benji, and Joel form Good Charlotte came out, and played covers with Fat Mike on bass. They got another guitar and played Rancid’s Olympia, and Weezer's El Scorcho. After that Nofx played a few of there own songs, and screwed everyone up, but it was still cool. They would stop in the middle on every song and Fat Mike would be like fuck it I don't want to play this song, and they would give him another beer and he'd finish the song. They ended it all with Rancid's Radio, Radio Radio, and Bro Hymn, by Pennywise. Morgan Heritage, Flogging Molly, Good Charlotte, and the rest of NOFX all joined in. At the end of it all the guy who created the Warped Tour came out and said he was sorry for the rain, and that most tours would say fuck it and leave but the Warped Tour isn't about that.
