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raltag

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Posts posted by raltag

  1. Sunday Night

    in Reading Festival

    Posted

    I have mixed emotions regarding sunday night. First let me state this was my 12th reading festival in a row, so i have seen the "riots" wax and wane throught the years.

    Positives:

    quieter and less obvious overall trouble on sunday night

    Good security ALL weekend not just sunday

    Vocal security advising when tent thefts were happening and actually apprehending the culprits!

    Generally friendlier security.

    Less gas canister explosions

    Negatives:

    Campfire ban on sunday night, the WORST decision in the history of the festival. First it punishes the majority for the actions of the few, second it galvanises the "rioters" and forces them to go direct there attentions elsewhere such as the VASTLY increased number of tents destroyed/slashed/burnt this year. More importantly it kills the "vibe" or atmosphere of the festival for the honest/good attendess who just want to keep warm, socialise and celeberate the end of another great festival.

    For me it may be the final straw for this festival if the "sensible" people cannot be allowed to relax and enjoy the festival and are forced by over the top rules(campfire 8pm) and levels of security and police reminiscent of guantanamo bay, we do not need to be treated like children and for those that DO simple action by security to swiftly apprehend/arrest remove from site and LIFETIME ban.

    The police presence was imho over the top, this was a festival not a G20 summit protest. The actions of the police i witnessed were reprehnsible including assaulting an 18 year old girl attempting to walk back to her tent down the path she was caught across the arm with a baton for getting presumably "too close" to the police, i witnessed 20+ people leaving purple campsite with visible blood wounds all loudly advising the police were responsible.

    I was also witness to security evicting a group of campers in brown camp due to having broken the "no fires" rule on sunday night, the group of 7/8 20 somethings had "dared" to light a single tall candle in place of their fire for light, this was rapidly extinguished and the group were forcibly removed despite the individuals concerned apologising and advising they weren't aware that a candle! broke the rule, after 5 minutes of arguing/discussion with the over the top security the campers were allowed to collect there belongings but not notably their tents and led away.

    Now for me the positives of a quieter/safer campsite while good and prefered are not worth the costs outlined above.

  2. ****READING FESTIVAL A-Z****

    in Reading & Leeds Festivals

    Posted

    Very good info, useful to hear.

    I can't see the 8pm onwards no fires rule being manageable myself , it will give the security much better justification to stamp out the idiotic bonfires and trouble but it does seem to unfairly punish the law abiding majority who will come back to there tents after Blink 182/last act and want to chat/drink reminisce on the last night.

    I hope a common sense approach is implemented whereby sensible small fires "less than knee height and one pace wide" will be ignored.

    Also the no re-entry to site thing on late sunday/monday might become difficult as those late risers usually require at least 2 trips to the car to put things away. Personally im normally on my way home by 10am but even i usually make 2/3 trips to the car packing up.

  6. Early Entry times

    in Reading & Leeds Festivals

    Posted

    correct i have been going since 1999 and the thursday "early entry" which became wednesday has ALWAYS been when the site is ready let em in, which varies year on year from 10am to latest was 4pm and we were battering the door down by that point lol.

    If i had to say a time i'd estimate 2pm, so join the queue chill have a beer and then wander in :-)

  8. Cheap pre festival booze

    in Reading & Leeds Festivals

    Posted

    Hi all

    Its that time of year again and we need to stock up on essential supplies for the festival, so does anyone know of any good alchohol deals from the supermarkets? or national retailers?

    Particulaly im after a Case 24 cans! of lager, bottles are banned and random 4 packs would be impossible to carry.

    brands prefered would be carlsberg/export carling stella.

    Best I have found so far is morrisions £15 for 24 case cans

    or

    Bargain Booze 2 for £16 on 15 carlsberg cans packs (total 30 cans)

    can anyone do better? please no corner shops deals ;-)

  9. Reading early entry

    in Reading & Leeds Festivals

    Posted

    Hi

    Early bird is always officially stated for late afternoon 4-6pm access to site, but always it opens early as soon as mean fiddler give the go ahead taht the majority of heavy equipment is out of the way they open the site. Im speaking from 11 years experience and every year they have allowed wednesday entry (04 if memory serves) :-)

    We generally arrive at 9am setup in the queue crack a few tinnies and banter with security til they let us in lol.

    ps i was also the 1st in the queue last year at white car park entrance but didnt get to cut the ribbon over the bridge for the offcial start as i was too busy helping my missus carry stuff lol but it was cool standing next to melvin and the cameras :-)

  11. Camping in white

    in Reading Festival

    Posted

    1, fills up gradually not a great deal of demand for the "quiet" camp full by thursday 10pm ish

    2, VERY quiet its like being in a graveyard and imho u miss out on a great deal of the reading atmosphere (not all of it is bad), its the kind of field that if you play your stereo past 11pm people will come and complain.

    3. The walk is fairly long, approx 20mins at a steady, unimpeded pace.

    Benefits: Cleanest toilets on site, easy access to your car (if parked in white) OWN bar, security tighter and more visible due to it being the edge of site.

    hope this helps.

  12. Early BIRD ticket UPDATE

    in Reading Festival

    Posted

    @kittycat my apologies if i came across harsh before, but this situation had got em quite worked up, and i am impressed with your psychic ability knowing they would release more EE :-) anyway sorry

    and WOOT! 4 x EE for me my fiance and mates :-)

    wednesday is BACK!!!

  13. Early BIRD ticket UPDATE

    in Reading Festival

    Posted

    @ kittycat100 where are the new allotment of early entry tickets for sale??

    NOT coach packages with early entry. i have been attending this festival for 11 years and it has NEVER been this difficult/awkward/stupid to get wednesday access to the site.

    I like many preprepared for the festival, patiently waited for ticket release afternoon and purchased our weekend tickets, car park permits i NEVER expected any issue with the wednesday which has always been a nice little erner for festival republic,

    i can remember when we didn't even HAVE to pay for wednesday it was FREE.

    Just an update after further contact direct by phone with FR no additional early entry tickets have yet been made availble, not online or otherwise, NOT seetickets etc.

    wednesday looks like its going to be "interesting" this year!

  14. Early BIRD ticket UPDATE

    in Reading Festival

    Posted · Edited by eFestivals
    removal of personal details

    Hi all, i thought you might appreciate seeing this.

    Does not look good folks:

    i sent this to festival republic this week.

    "Hi Jennifer

    Please can we have an official update on the status of the early entry tickets for reading festival 09, as stated below and on numerous festival related forums a large quantity of people are intending to turn up on Wednesday approx 2000+ afaik most of these have NOT purchased a coach ticket as they are impractical.

    Have festival republic secured additional license? and if so when/how do we acquire early entry permits?

    What provisions have festival republic put in place for the inevitable influx of festival goers that will arrive without early permits on Wednesday? Will they be allowed to queue and wait till Thursday? Sleep in the car/ car park specifically thinking white car park which is effectively a field on the far side of the thames. Will early entry be available on the door Wednesday?"

    the RESPONSE:

    Dear *********,

    As it currently stands we have completely sold out of early bird tickets, day and weekend tickets. There will be no contingency tickets held back to sell on site this year. None. If people turn up hoping to buy one they will be disappointed and sent straight back home. There will be no holding area for them and there will no facilities provided.

    They will not be permitted access to the car parks on Wed without an early bird and weekend ticket and they will not be allowed to sleep in their cars in our car parks, or around the local area. There are very heavy parking restrictions around the local roads and they are likely to be towed or ticketed.

    Anyone turning up on site this year without the correct tickets actually in their hands will be turned away.

    We have applied to sell extra early birds tickets and weekend tickets but we will not get a decision on that until sometime this month, July. We may not get permission at all. If we are lucky enough to get permission, then we will sell that extra batch immediately. People should keep an eye on our website and the Reading local press webistes for updates on this.

    If people are unsuccessful in getting an early bird ticket from this proposed extra batch, but already have a weekend ticket, they SHOULD NOT GO TO SITE UNTIL 8AM THURS MORNING.

    No early birds, day tickets or weekend tickets will be sold on site this year. I can’t reiterate that enough.

    Thanks

  15. Should Reading/Leeds always have a certain amount of Rock/Heavy music?

    in Reading & Leeds Festivals

    Posted

    Hi i am a BIG fan of the reading festival (leeds is still the cousin we dont talk about) i have attended every year from 99-to 08

    and last year was my tenth reading anniversary and consecutive festival i still wear the last 3 years cloth wristbands :-) .

    During that time i have seen many changes some for the good but many more for the worse, the most concerning for me personally and

    my group of friends is the lineup and the festival goers attitudes.

    The lineup has always been varied and as many others above have already stated this diversity is what makes reading the BEST festival.

    The oppurtunity to walk a couple of 100 meters and be able to watch punk, metal, indie and dance is unbelieavable and in my opinion unparalleled

    in other festivals (yes that does include glasto).

    The problem is the lineup year on year has become increaingly indie-centric to the detriment of the other musical genres.

    In 99 friday was ROCK, Saturday INDIE and sunday METAL of course there were other mini festivals ongoing the dance tent/punk day and various

    standout examples of other genres that met the musical tastes of the times (im looking at you eminem), but the proposed new lineup does indeed

    read like the cover to NME not ROCKSOUND,NME,METAL HAMMER.

    In my humble opinion the headliners of reading festival should stick to the above formula the sunday being possible METAL/CLASSIC

    (I.e AC/DC or metallica) who here wouldnt prefer this as the 3 headliners FOO FIGHTERS, Kings of Leon, Megadeath?? lower down we

    have Klaxons,thursday,blink 182 etc etc

    The second problem is the festival attendees themselves and i am convinced this is linked to the above concerns with the lineup,

    it is almost too easy to suggest that the festival has become overrun by "chavs" where once i could walk through brown 3 and hear

    megadeath,NIN,black sabbath playing see an aging iron maiden fan in a metal studded jean jacket and multiple coloured mohawk punks

    all drinking heavily sitting round a damn good fire and laughing. I NOW witness burberry capped YOBS jumping on tents, agressively

    harrasing any woman in sight while listening to Dizee rascal.

    Now while i personally do not like the musical styles of most of the indie/new rave/r&b/rap etc scenes i do not mind shareing the festival with them

    the problem comes from their attitudes towards others and general rudeness, idiotic actions such as the recent trend to try and create downtown basra IRAQ

    by blowing up camping gas cannisters this is unacceptable hopefully to all of us.

    Maybe im getting too old for all this (28) maybe quieter festivals like download are now more to my tastes (yes i do realise the irony in calling download quiet)

    Im considering a change to sonisphere in the hopes i can leave the annoying crowd behind, but this just grates against me that i am being forced out of MY festival

    Id just like to add to all those who are going to reply with "u sux lx3r, n3w rav3 4eve5" dont bother, enjoy your music, enjoy society dont ruin it. Eventually you will be me.

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