Advice: don't get your hopes up

Okay, I didn't post this right after the show because I was still blissed out and didn't want to harsh anyone's mellow. I don't want or think I deserve a refund, but at the risk of stating the obvious, Lockn needs to get their shit together. Even though some of the big ticket issues in the history were not within their control (ill performers, weather), that just means they have to be perfect at everything else. The 6 hour wait on Friday when I arrived at 1:30p was inexcusable as were the toilets. I know it is a logistical challenge, but I have attended Bonaroo that had 3 times as many people and the security was faster while being more thorough, they had tons of water stations, toilets were clean and plentiful, and showers were an option. All of this is controllable and as they say, you must control the controllables. If this was just a free hippy gathering, you could expect to be completely self sufficient, but I paid money, so I expect some professionalism from the organizers.

I make this point not to bitch but because I want this festival to continue and with all the competition, casual attendees (and those with greater discretionary income) will simply go elsewhere. I am not as ardent a jam band fan as some of you and am going to look around next year just to assess options. I have really enjoyed the last 2 years and want to see it go on for sure, but shits gotta get better. Basically, year 4 has to have a diverse, killer line up and perfect logistics or the festival will get a permanently bad name in a crowded market. Good will and a core fan base alone will not make a festival with so much overhead solvent forever. Fingers crossed!

Agreeing with Chris Kuriti, and after some time to reflect, I feel like the promoters put all of their energy into the line-up, the so-called "front of the house" and did not give due attention to the "back of the house." They planned to let it run itself, and then let it try to run itself, without considering that if there were failures, either by aberration or mis-estimation, that there had to be ways to address them.

And I am giving them credit for having to deal with storm damage issues--for that they get a pass--and am only looking at "back of the house" problems that would have occurred anyway. Still, I'd like to see them fix what's fixable for an even better event, and cut zero slack for the same problems this year as last.

And I am also coming away agreeing that the great music made up for a lot of the problems. Overall I had an outstanding time, no regrets.

The "its all good" attitude gets old. Lockn fell short in many ways for a $285 GA $90 camping experience.

The volunteers sucked when our car needed a push out of mud. The organization, planning and engineering all left plenty to complain about. Arriving early and waiting in line for 7 hours while others arrive mid day or late and get in under an hour. Mulching a fraction of the parking lot (we had a GA parking pass too) and path ways. Little things all over that some quality control and contingency planning could so easily solve. 

Now, the lineup was so great you almost felt even.

But if people are voicing complaints and wanting for competent people to be putting on this festival, they're entitled to. 

I didn't get hung up or negative during the weekend and had an unmitigated blast. I have lived in a third world country in a hut for two years without electricity or water, so I made things work. The tickets don't break my bank either. My concern is really for the event itself since I really like hanging with you guys and listening to good music. The die hard fans will come regardless, but if the casual fans don't feel the overall event is worth the dollars they spend, it will go tits up. We're the only people still talking about it. Casual fans will simply look at the options next year and think, "maybe peach fest will have better shitters". That's why I compared to bonnaroo since it is possible to perform these logistical challenges with even more people. Now with FTW over, maybe this will get more of Shapiros attention.

yes

i dont mind. i'm prepared to defend my stance. opposing point of views are welcome as long as they are civil. i'd prefer people register, but if they don't want to, that is their choice. don't sweat the small stuff, brother.

 Recognizing the pluses and minuses of any event are critical to future successes. Constructive criticism enables the organizers to fully evaluate their "product" thereby enabling them to continue offering the very best experience for their customers. Attending Lockn' has provided me with two years of amazing memories and I, personally, want the festival to continue for years to come. So, if by chance, Dave Frey or Peter Shapiro have not heard the concerns of festival goers, I think they will appreciate hearing them. If there are issues they can address I believe they will want to do so. TOO, I'm not sure what the best way to accomplish this might be, but maybe a thread directed to the organizers will work or possibly sending a message simply listing concerns mentioned here would be effective. 

Troll,
If you look at the original map camping was much closer than last year. Unfortunately, the storm did not allow for camping in lots of those sites, especially GA RV. Lockn' did this weird thing and improvised (don't we all love improvised music) and given the other option - canceling the festival, they provided us with once in a life time experiences. By the way if they cancel insurance covers them and they lose nothing. I would be willing to bet they lost much more of their own money by not taking the easy way out.

And waaaaaay closer than year one. Some people are never happy.

Where we were camped, there was a line of 15 portas right near us next to the showers. Not far from that was another line of 10 or so near the Woods Stage. Near where we landed every day inside, there were two big blocks of portas, plus a large urinal to go with each one. The only complaint I heard at the time was they were not cleaned often enough, and that was from sneake and Sue, not me. And that was Saturday night ONLY. I don't even know what these porta complaints are ABOUT, except people too lazy/effed up to go FIND them.

I swear, I wonder if some of you have been to a FESTIVAL before. Y'all need to go to one of the small ones, where the facilities really ARE inadequate. Then you'll have something to complain about.

kuriti, I know you've been to Roo, but if you're pointing at them as a model of how it's done, you must not have gone the first few years. And Lockn is still in the first few years.

TBH Shapiro kinda shot himself in the foot with FTW, but, like us, I think he appreciates a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Think about it: if money was all Frey and Shapiro cared about, they'd be putting on a different fest. The money isn't in jam bands, all-but-washed-up classic rock acts, alt-country or bluegrass. It's in whatever high school and college kids like, because they have lots of disposable income. Sure, some of the retirees among us have some discretionary income too, but they're a fuckton more judicious about spending it.

And I'm heartbroken that the reddit crowd is so over it. If the kind of people who defended r/jailbait and r/mensrights don't show up, I'll cry all the way to the portas I found. Also, there's absolutely no chance that this forum was founded by two guys who despise reddit or anything. Oh, and calling me "bro" is a surefire way to get me to "seriously, calm down."

Sorry TOO, you know I love ya like a brother. There ain't no good guy; there ain't no bad guy. There's only you and me, and we just disagree.

What are the issues that were not weather related?

I have seen that people didn't like the new layout, and it was much, much longer walk to the main stage area this year from GA tent then it was last year, so I didn't like that either. I didn't think it worked as well for Shakedown and the general sense of community.

Everything else I have seen, I think those were weather related. I didn't like the porta-pot situation, where we had ~8 for all of the GA/Car/RV Ridge field. Also wished we had water in the sink trolley. I think those were both weather related. I also thought the entry was ridiculous, but again, I think a whole lot of that can be chalked up to weather--instead of having die-hards roll in at 5AM thursday and then others trickle in throughout the day and Friday, with nobody anxious to get in particularly before the 4pm start, you had just about everybody within an hour and all arriving at once with a noon start time. Yes, I thought with those changed dynamics they should have curtailed the search (which is, INHO, all a theater anyway). Probably not a solution the promoters could ever embrace.

Again, I've done lots of primitive camping before and was prepared to be self-sufficient, so the practical impact of the "inconveniences" was very small for me. Stinky shitters, big deal.

I really don't think I am in the "All is Wonderful" crowd, but if you want to paint me with that brush that is fine.  None of this is personal to me.

I am just asking if you really don't think these issues were weather related?  I see all those things as logistical challenges directly related to weather.  Entry was much better last year.  Toilets were more plentiful and "somewhat" cleaner last year, although they could have been better.  There were water stations last year.  We took showers last year, although I admit that the 3 drips from the Shower head in Shower World weren't a great deal.  It is why we had our own shower tent this year.  So I think all of that was better last year and I guess I am willing to give 1/2 a pass, at least, to the organizers as these being weather related problems.  

Maybe they should have had better contingency planning.  Honestly I am not well versed on the logistics of running a festival w/ 25,000 attendees to give a really cogent answer on that.  

This festival hits exactly on where my music preferences are and is 45 minutes from my house, so it would be hard to consider going elsewhere.  Although I do think Peach is a good festival as well.  

GA Camping WALIKING DISTANCE I was on the other side of tent only near the #8 about 2/3 of the way up the hill. Could actually hear the music somewhat. On Sunday night I got so cold that I had to leave WSP to get something warm. I had time to walk back ,put on everything I brought with me and I got back in time to hear more. Also I might have gotten there sooner but I could hear the music clearly the entire way and was half dancing / half walking. It didn't seem any longer than my spot at GOTVibes and I could hear the music better!
WATER/TOILETS. there were 10 portolets for the entire area, the water spigots were dry and I was told that there was no water in the shower that was staged across from the portolets. When I first arrived after hours in the field the portolets were already full and no tissue. I stopped the first cart I saw and told them firmly. A very short while later they were cleaned.i only found water near the stages. I used storm water from Friday night to wash with.
MUSIC I thought the loss was minimal despite an entire day being cut. I really wanted to see Soulive.
GETTING IN When I came in and could first here the music they were just up playing Listen to the Music which I announced loudly and people got out of their cars to listen. Fortunately I did not lose much of Friday but a lot of folks were still on route 29 when I got in- I started at 6:30......
The issues for me with the promoters are the lack of a plan B. When you throw an outdoor party for that many people there has to be a plan B . Frankly the County should have insisted on it. I was told by the sheriffs department that LOCKN already working on it. This I believe is the main reason that people had to wait sooooooo long to get in.
My second complaint is the poor communication initially. The emails didn't start soon enough for those of us who had to find a place to be. I don't really care what anyone else thinks about this. In 2015 and the way we are all connected. there was no excuse. I believe it would go back to the lack of a plan B
These guys do not have to reinvent the wheel. There's is a lot of good info out there to learn from others FESTIVAL issues and it does not seem as if they sought it out as in being proactive instead of reactive. They sure can come up with a line up however they suck at the rest and could use a new operations person. And yes I might consider the position. The storm was one thing - better prep is another.
I had a good musical experience aside from the Santana issue. I was there for the music so the portolets near the stages worked for me. I was crazy over the interlocking stages and thought I'd jump right out of my skin with delight over the music. I met some nice, good , interesting and generous folks and the vibe overall was good.
Did I mention that my shade canopy filled with water and fell down 2 feet from my head Friday night ! Also I had an intestinal issue to deal with..... So I'm waiting for the 2016 lineup and a look at my finances when the time comes