Overall experience review, please!
edvedd
Posts: 152
Hello to all of you. Unfortuneatly i could not attend PJ20, but I have been following the shows on the pit during weekend. Both night 1&2 looked unbeliveable cool(im totally excited about TOTD reunion!!can wait for the boot), but I would like to know how the overall experience was? How was the 10c tent? The pj museum? The veneue? Everything!!
Please tell us who wasnt there how everything went down
Sincerely,
Peter
Please tell us who wasnt there how everything went down
Sincerely,
Peter
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Comments
Keep them coming
The opening lineup was as bad as it sounded when it was first announced. I still can't believe that was the actual lineup and not a joke. It seems the entire weekend was poorly planned. Would it have been so hard to get some decent opening bands, or maybe get Uncle Neil to show up on the second night? I've seen him play with PJ before, but not everyone has. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for TOTD, but I didn't need a repeat performance on Sunday.
As for the venue, it was terrible. I'll never go back there again. The sight lines are bad, and the projection screens are terrible. We didn't have too much trouble leaving, thanks to VIP parking. Although the hundreds of dumbasses walking in the middle of the exit road certainly slowed us down. The road was wide enough for 3 cars, yet people covered the entire road.
Everything else -
The traffic going in was no big deal. Drove right up and parked without issue. On Saturday we had our tailgate party and on Sunday I had VIP parking and wish I didn't. They totally screwed up the VIP exit and we sat in line until 2:30 AM in the blue lot when the free lots were almost empty. We sat and sat for hours. Someone asked the Alpine Facebook page about it and all they could tell us was "9000 cars are trying to get out at once". Really?? If I had one complaint it would be that VIP parking was a ripoff.
The 10C Park was a nice idea but there was nothing to it except some picnic tables and a couple of beer stands. The 10c bathroom had no running water on Sunday. Disgusting. The 10c promised free snacks and water refills in the 10c Park but I never saw the snacks on Sunday and the water was all gone. So overall it was pretty much useless on Sunday.
The concessions - $7 for a personal pizza. I didn't buy one because it was a single small slice. Wow.
The venue is old and it shows. I don't like these gigantic amphitheaters in the middle of nowhere whe there is only one way in and one way out. That's pretty much the reason why I don't like Mansfield too.
But these are all minor complaints in an otherwise perfect weekend. I loved almost every single minutes of it except for the hours in line to get out on Sunday.
Best tailgating experience ever too. Both nights.
BOS-9/28/04,9/29/04,6/28/08,6/30/08, 9/5/16, 9/7/16, 9/2/18
MTL-9/15/05, OTT-9/16/05
PHL-5/27/06,5/28/06,10/30/09,10/31/09
CHI-8/2/07,8/5/07,8/23/09,8/24/09
HTFD-6/27/08
ATX-10/4/09, 10/12/14
KC-5/3/2010,STL-5/4/2010
Bridge School-10/23/2010,10/24/2010
PJ20-9/3/2011,9/4/2011
OKC-11/16/13
SEA-12/6/13
TUL-10/8/14
i did miss binaural, light years would have fit right in with the mood
could have done without the repeats on hunger strike and reach down but cornell's voice was fucking amazing
we went at 7 on sat to hear qotsa and the strokes - awesome
(and the expo was weak, imhfo)
"what a long, strange trip it's been"
Not to beat a dead horse but it should have been somwpewhere else
Parking lot till 230 am???? Oh hells no
I had a fucking great time and Fridays preparty was the absolute best of all time take that to the bank ...
Friday was outstanding. I'm from the Chicago area, not too far from the venue (relatively speaking).
My brother and I went to a bar on a Friday night in a rinky-dink little corner of Wisconsin. We met about 20 people, and not one of them was from anywhere nearby. About an hour and a half from home, and we talked to people from Costa Rica, Brazil, London, Italy, Atlanta, Colorado, San Francisco, Seattle, etc.
It was a fucking invasion.
"Bad start with Wash" - amazing how each person is different. I mean for me, it was the greatest thing in the world.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
anyway what was the merch stand(s) like? also the weather? (i saw a video which looked a bit rainy?)
any crowd surfing? or cool fan-made billboards or signs?
thanks again~
Glad you enjoyed it. I'm just sick of every time they play a "special" show, they open with Wash. I've been at every show in the US it has been played at since 2000. I just can't believe that many people haven't heard it yet. Sometimes, Long Road, Can't Keep, and especially Oceans are all more rare openers than Wash. In my opinion they are all better songs too.
I guess I can't complain, I only need to hear Undone, Otherside, and Brother. Unfortunately they are all great songs. Last Soldier, of the earth, and just a girl would be nice too, but don't appear on an album.
Sunday...was really happy it wasn't raining since we had lawn! Left again around 2pm and hung out in the yellow lot until around 4. Went inside and got a pretty decent spot in the 10C lawn section. Took a walk to the merch booth up near the entrance and got to see Ed do a song with (I think) Glen Hansard. Awesome surprise!!! After The Stokes set everyone started pushing up...I had to pee but I didn't want to lose my spot (or my husband) so I decided to hold it. I seriously was afraid I would not make it back...that lawn was packed like sardines. But by around 11pm I thought my kidneys were gonna burst so we left and went up to the porta potties...I would have rather pissed in my pants. Fucking disgusting! But it goes with the territory I guess...my husband said earlier that there was a guy passed out in one with his pants down around his knees...WTF. Anyway...went back down but didn't feel like trying to worm my way back down to where we were so just watched the end of the show near the middle of the lawn. It was friggin COLD too...but I really didn't want to leave...started walking up to the top of the lawn during YL...again...I really need to quit smoking! That is one steep ass hill, whew! Got back to the car and tried leaving ASAP this time but ended up sitting in a line of cars for about an hour anyway.
Even with the minor inconveniences, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Nothing is ever perfect...just make the best of it and you enjoy the good parts so much more. I had a huge smile on my face the entire show both nights. I love this band and that was all that really mattered this weekend.
Thank you Pearl Jam!!!
I have to say I met a bunch of first timers, which was really cool, knowing they were so blown away. The merch stations were overworked and understaffed. The venue is older, yes but it didn't have any impact to me. insert that I work at a place that was built in 1852, so old is to be determined I guess. I had no idea that it was so so steep. I would never wear anything less than a lite hiking shoe, this is not the place for flip flops. My feet and legs kill and will for days, so prepare for a work out. I will know now to park in the yellow or blue lot for any future shows. Green lot was fun but that hill was a heartbreaker to climb.
I don't know. I keep shaking my head, Trying to wrap my head around why anyone would complain of TOTD 2 nights in a row. Its not always everyones cup of tea. Thankfully I was drinking beer. Very very very positive vibe the entire time. I read some of these review and I can't even think how someone could have such the opposite experience. Certainly not disregarding someone's situation. Its almost like I wished I bumped into them and who knows, it could had changed their path.
Overall. It was worth every single second, every penny. That was some serious just rock your socks off kind of fun. I would do that again in a heart beat. It definitely showed me that I'm no spring chicken. But it also showed me I'm not ready to throw in towel just yet.
I can not wait for the boots. Have fun in Canada to all that are going. My house is quiet. I'm taking a nap now....
in short, everything was perfect.
Alpine was a great venue, I was very nervous about the size of the place and having lawn seats; I was worried we weren't going to be able to see anything but both nights we had more than satisfactory views. I just really wish I had been to a show there before to get all the in's and out's that we figured out as we went, it would've been nice to be able to test it out on someone before PJ.
I'm not going to complain about the set-list or cornell, I'll just say I enjoyed the second night better but that's just me. When they opened with Wash the second night I knew they were going to kick it up a notch the second night. From what I heard they ran into some curfew issues on the first night and some songs got cut because I noticed they started a little earlier the second night. I was hoping to see Eddie and Neil do a few songs together but I knew that would be a shot in the dark. Overall both nights were amazing as expected.
You're an angry elf.
for the least they could possibly do
The roped off Ten Club section was nice for the night I was on the lawn, too. Allowed us to stake a spot with a nice view, and nobody really crowded us once the ropes came down.
I've heard some people bitching about Alpine Valley as a venue, and I'm a little surprised. I thought it was a neat place to see a show. Nice scenery while the sun is up. Nice sightlines, unless you've bought obstructed view tickets. The sound on the lawn was amazing. Usually at amphitheater shows, the music sounds like muffled garbage the further you get from the stage. At Alpine, you could hear crystal clear from the top of the hill.
The post-show parking lot can be a clusterfuck, but we knew that going in. First night, we decided to be "smart" and drink a few beers while letting the lot clear. We didn't get out until nearly 3 a.m. Night 2, we booked it for the car as soon as Ledbetter was over, and didn't screw around once we got there.
We were out in, literally, 15 minutes. It was magic.
All in all, I will always have a fond place in my heart for Alpine Valley. It was home to two of the greatest nights of my life.
for the least they could possibly do
Before Saturday, Wash had been played nine times in 11 years. A lot of people haven't heard it. Maybe you're just "unlucky." :roll:
for the least they could possibly do