BST Hyde Park 2017

[Diamond24]

I'm going to Kings of Leon on Thursday so I'll try get down early for a wristband. What was the security like? Searches, dogs etc?

[Mash011]

20 minutes ago, Diamond24 said:

I'm going to Kings of Leon on Thursday so I'll try get down early for a wristband. What was the security like? Searches, dogs etc?

Didnt see any dogs, but it was fairly intense - they asked us to empty our pockets into plastic bags as well as taking off our belts, then go through airport style metal detector things.

[Diamond24]

28 minutes ago, Mash011 said:

Didnt see any dogs, but it was fairly intense - they asked us to empty our pockets into plastic bags as well as taking off our belts, then go through airport style metal detector things.

Ah okay. Same as Community Festival yesterday then. Cheers 

[dan08]

How early should we arrive before gates open to guarantee a wristband (that's for the sold out Killers gig)?

[Mash011]

21 minutes ago, dan08 said:

How early should we arrive before gates open to guarantee a wristband (that's for the sold out Killers gig)?

As early as you can really - they seem to have given out very few, probably deliberately limiting as much of possible to those who've paid up for their 'early entry' scam.

[Odessa]

If my coach gets down there on time I should be in for about 1-1:30 for The Killers. Hopefully that'll be early enough, the whole thing sounds like a shambles. If it comes down to being frustrated by a shit place and shit sound all day or giving them an extra tenner, I'll probably buy into their scam unfortunately, hard to stick to your guns if it might ruin your day seeing your favourite band. Basically I'm gonna play straight into their hands is what I'm saying so hopefully I'm early enough. 

[Mash011]

27 minutes ago, Odessa said:

If my coach gets down there on time I should be in for about 1-1:30 for The Killers. Hopefully that'll be early enough, the whole thing sounds like a shambles. If it comes down to being frustrated by a shit place and shit sound all day or giving them an extra tenner, I'll probably buy into their scam unfortunately, hard to stick to your guns if it might ruin your day seeing your favourite band. Basically I'm gonna play straight into their hands is what I'm saying so hopefully I'm early enough. 

Be more than I tenner I think? I believe it's only the premium view or vip tickets which are £100+ that get guaranteed front pit access, the priority entry ones just let you in an hour earlier so you can snap up a wristband then bugger off leaving fans of the other bands on throughout the day stuck at the back barely able to hear them play.

[Odessa]

28 minutes ago, Mash011 said:

Be more than I tenner I think? I believe it's only the premium view or vip tickets which are £100+ that get guaranteed front pit access, the priority entry ones just let you in an hour earlier so you can snap up a wristband then bugger off leaving fans of the other bands on throughout the day stuck at the back barely able to hear them play.

Ohhh shit I thought you meant the bump up to priority ones which I think were about a tenner more. Not sure they have VIP tickets for the Killers day unless they're only available on the day, don't remember that option when booking.

[Mash011]

2 minutes ago, Odessa said:

Ohhh shit I thought you meant the bump up to priority ones which I think were about a tenner more. Not sure they have VIP tickets for the Killers day unless they're only available on the day, don't remember that option when booking.

They will do, substantial parts of the festival site are set aside for VIP areas of various tiers.

[Odessa]

Just now, Mash011 said:

They will do, substantial parts of the festival site are set aside for VIP areas of various tiers.

Ah I won't be forking out for that, hopefully I'm early enough. Thanks for the info!

[dan08]

I'll probably arrive an hour or two before GA gates open. Should be early enough for a wristband.

[atomised]

4 hours ago, Mash011 said:

Be more than I tenner I think? I believe it's only the premium view or vip tickets which are £100+ that get guaranteed front pit access, the priority entry ones just let you in an hour earlier so you can snap up a wristband then bugger off leaving fans of the other bands on throughout the day stuck at the back barely able to hear them play.

General admission gates opened 10 minutes after early entry on saturday and were open by 1150am on sunday which was before early entry was due to and over an hour before published time. I walked into the pit area at green day just after 1pm they were still letting people in first time at around 2pm

[Mash011]

34 minutes ago, atomised said:

General admission gates opened 10 minutes after early entry on saturday and were open by 1150am on sunday which was before early entry was due to and over an hour before published time.

Haha! So the people who paid for rip off tickets get ripped of doubly hard! Spectacular.

[retromoz]

AEG are a fucking joke. 

[strummer77]

18 hours ago, Mash011 said:

No bands and never saw a sign of it getting overcrowded! Went twice in 2015, both times we went in the pit just before the subs came on and got good spots absolutely fine with plenty of space around us. Heard word that it was getting closed off when it reached capacity but never saw it shut myself. Considering how little the festival has changed otherwise it's fairly clear that their current system is based entirely around money grabbing rather than crowd control. It's a farce, really.

Thought as much. Worked absolutely fine back then.

I wouldn't actually have minded being out of the circle as much if they turned the sound up and their two sound desks/viewing platforms they put up didn't obscure the stage from wherever you are stood.

[PurpleH]

I'm going to see The Killers on Saturday. I've seen them before but not at festivals, so I hope BST is gonna be great. Also excited for Tears For Fears.

Too bad to hear about the bad sound system. I really hope they'll fix that sooner or later... Another question: Where do you get the wristbands? Do you just go up to security at the front and ask? How does that work?

[GlastoSimon]

On 7/2/2017 at 2:34 AM, Mash011 said:

*We managed to have a decent enough day anyway. Green Day were fun enough. Hives put on a great set but sadly experience was ruined by BST. Good sets from Public Access TV and Sunflower Bean on the tiny Summer Stage which was a nice escape from the bollocks of the main one. Rant over.

Pretty good analysis.

To be honest I had no idea about the wristband thing, went on Saturday and assumed that was the 'pay more' section from the start of the day given no one extra was going in when there was plenty of space.

Ruined it to be honest, but Rancid were good and Green Day did what they do!

[Mash011]

1 hour ago, PurpleH said:

I'm going to see The Killers on Saturday. I've seen them before but not at festivals, so I hope BST is gonna be great. Also excited for Tears For Fears.

Too bad to hear about the bad sound system. I really hope they'll fix that sooner or later... Another question: Where do you get the wristbands? Do you just go up to security at the front and ask? How does that work?

Yeah just go up to the ways into the front section and if you're early enough they'll give you one on your way in.

[PurpleH]

I checked the website, the map for Green Day is different than the maps for Kings Of Leon and The Killers. It doesn't have the "capacity controlled" part at the front. But who knows if that's gonna change or not. We'll see on Thursday.

[Mash011]

41 minutes ago, PurpleH said:

I checked the website, the map for Green Day is different than the maps for Kings Of Leon and The Killers. It doesn't have the "capacity controlled" part at the front. But who knows if that's gonna change or not. We'll see on Thursday.

That is a conspicuous difference. Perhaps they limited it for Green Day in expectation of a livelier crowd? Bizarre either way

[Diamond24]

I was also going to post about the maps, I noticed that earlier. I'm not that bothered about the rest of the line-up for Kings of Leon so I don't really want to be there for opening time, but if there's wrist bands I feel like I'll have to. Hmmm. I'll email them and hopefully they can clarify beforehand.

[Mash011]

4 hours ago, Diamond24 said:

I was also going to post about the maps, I noticed that earlier. I'm not that bothered about the rest of the line-up for Kings of Leon so I don't really want to be there for opening time, but if there's wrist bands I feel like I'll have to. Hmmm. I'll email them and hopefully they can clarify beforehand.

Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit and Pixies! Easily a day worth heading down early for either way.

[Diamond24]

I asked about the wiristband situation and received this reply

"For Green Day, Kings of Leon and The Killers, we have a general admission area in front of the main stage. This area is capacity-controlled to ensure your safety, therefore (as per ticket descriptions) access to this area is never guaranteed, and is on a first-come-first-served basis.

For this general admission area we may use measures such as wristbanding to ensure that numbers are monitored. If so, wristbands are allocated when customers exit this area to ensure that they are able to leave to go to the toilet and regain entry to this area (and re-join their group) without conflict, whilst enabling the security team to ensure the area never exceeds capacity. These wristbands are part of the event’s operational plans and cannot be purchased.

Note: Priority Entry tickets allow customers entry to the main event up to one hour before doors for general admission. This ticket type does not guarantee any access to viewing areas or similar."

So wouldn't actually confirm whether wirstbands are going to be used again...

 

[dan08]

Think it's pretty likely that it will be the same as the Green Day gig.

[Diamond24]

I replied asking if they could tell me whether it'll be used tomorrow or not and they said...

"it is very likely a wristband system will be in place, yes."

So yeah, there we go. Supposed to be thunder and lightning tomorrow in London, I hope it clears away fairly early!