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| - We try to make it out to as many shows as we possibly can. We've even been to other festivals. While I'm far from an expert, I can't understand how an organization that's literally been doing this for 30 years just couldn't quite get things right.
Our first day at Rock In Rio was technically on Tuesday when we got invited to their press/media night. We got to roam the venue while it wasn't packed with people, and kind of get a sneak preview of what was to come for the weekend. The venue itself showed huge potential. They had giant bathrooms, a large open area where you could see both of the big stages from far away, and there seemed to be plenty to do and see. We also got to a see a cool little 2 song set by Magic that sounded excellent, and got to the meet the guys afterwords. They even closed out that night with a fireworks show. It really just got us even more excited for the weekend to come.
Then when the weekend came, 2 days were enough to see all the problems with Rock In Rio. We decided to park down at the Linq parking garage and ride the monorail down to SLS. The biggest issue with that was they made you walk up LV Blvd. from SLS to the Circus Circus, and then back track to where the gate entrance was. I don't mind walking, but the whole thing was just stupid. Getting out was a nightmare, but I'll get back to that. The staff seemed to be all but useless too. Just hours after opening each day, the whole festivals grounds turned into a dump. Most of the staff seemed to be just standing around, and the 2 guys I saw walking around on trash duty literally had a bag in one hand with maybe a dozen cans or so, and their phones in the other hand. I ended up finding some guys ID on Friday night and I had to ask 6 people where to turn it in. I'm not sure if everyone working was volunteer, but the majority of them seemed way more interested in being attendees than doing anything remotely helpful. I'm assuming the lack of work is what made the bathroom situation crap too. There were lines outside the mens bathroom of all places, and almost every time I went into one of the restrooms, there were no paper towels and garbage everywhere.
When it comes to the vendors, I think RIR did an okay job. Having the little shops setup was neat, but it obviously caused huge lines at some places and made it difficult to get certain things. It was nice to see local business' come out like MTO Cafe and Rollin' Smoke, but pricing was more ridiculous than I expected. I won't get into this since other people already have, but not including tax in the listed prices was dumb and a total inconvenience. Like it's not bad enough having to pay $12 for a pork sandwich and $4 for a bottle of water. Speaking of which...why the high price for water? I understand demand, but even on two unusually cool days in May, we live in Vegas, water is necessary. Do your high paying ticket attendees a solid and sell your water for 200% profit instead of 600% (which is probably a generous estimate anyway).
The whole cashless payment system thing was terrible too. If I can offer any advice, load your wristbands before you get anywhere near the venue. Cell data service was virtually non-existent and it took forever to add more money through the app. Going through the "top-up" stations didn't seem much better, as long lines were formed at them pretty much all day. Using the wristbands to pay wasn't very smooth either. There was multiple times we had to re-scan our bands for it work, and even though it didn't happen to us, we saw quite a few people who's wristbands just flat out didn't work. Add those errors to the ridiculous amount of people who couldn't read that this system was in place and tried paying with cash/card anyway just made lines take forever to move. I get that people's stupidity isn't their fault, but the cashless system was unnecessary...especially when you take into consideration their $3.50 charge just to get YOUR unused money back.
In my opinion, one of the best things about the RIR venue itself was the fake grass. It was much nicer to walk around on, and during the actual event dates, it was nice to throw down a blanket and relax between sets. Other festivals should take note of it.
Moving on to the actual music which is the biggest part of my 3 stars. I mean sure, this wasn't some all out, must see list, but I thought it was very solid. I'm a fan of a the majority of the first weekends line-up and there were quite a few I hadn't seen perform before. Metallica and No Doubt put on an excellent performance, and seeing Steve Vai needs no explanation. I noticed an unusual amount of technical difficulties, but overall the sound quality was spectacular.
Had I paid full price, I may honestly have only rated this 2 stars. They just have too many years of experience for them to have this many issues. But I love music and I'm grateful to be able to attend events like this. Though I do think RIR has a lot of work to do before 2019.
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