Worst Event I've ever attended
by DisgruntledOne2013 on 9/24/13PIEDMONT PARK - AtlantaRating: 1 out of 5This has to be the most poorly managed, poorly organized event ever. I attended last years Music Midtown, and it definitely had it's hiccups, all of which had been discussed and supposedly addressed before this year's Music Midtown. Not only did they not fix last year's problems but they added to them this year.
Lines were horrible, at every gate in and out of the event, at every vendor within the event, atm and porta johns. We waited two hours in line in pouring rain to get into the event on the second day, supposedly due to faulty ticket scanners. Eventually the event organizer allowed entry by simply showing your tickets, and not actually scanning them. There is no telling how long it would have taken to get in if they had not done this. We missed several of the bands we had planned to see due to waiting in line for hours in the pouring rain.
There is very little if any security to this event, several hundred people jumped and tore down fences in order to get in. Security did nothing. Once inside the event, again no direction from security, just swarms and swarms of people in every direction. You could barely move.
Once inside the event, you're basically in an open field with no coverage or reprieve from the elements. Since it had poured rain and continued to pour rain, there was no where to sit at all. The field quickly turned to a mud pit. Most of the paved areas near the vendors and porta johns were flooded from the rain and not passable as well. Some seating would be nice, especially for the price of the tickets for the two day pass. I really would have expected better appreciation and treatment for my patronage.
Now let's talk price gouging, $10 for a can of beer (luckily I don't drink at these events), $2 for a 12oz can of coke, $4 for a bottle of water, $6 for a single slice of pizza, merchandise shirts $25-40 (and those are the prices I paid for the 3 shirts I purchased, I'm sure some were higher).
The crowd's to this event are incomprehensible. I'm really surprised the city code enforcers and fire marshals allow for such a huge event to be hosted in such a cramped, confined and unorganized space, and especially with the lack of adequate staff and security presence.
This was my 2nd Music Midtown in a row and needless to say, my last. I really hope that the organizers of MM take heed that all of these problems are well known to the thousands of concert goers that attend these events. These events may be successful (monetarily) for you right now, but your reputation has a way of catching up to you.