So, that big music festival thing
So, a (relatively) large music festival in late summer - mostly outdoors and in a fairly contained venue. It's usually pretty hot, and combining excited crowds, music, and the inevitable use of whatever legal or illegal drugs happen to be your cup of tea...
I try and go every year, I usually hear at least a few performances that I haven't heard before, and find a few new interests as a result.
Of course, I'm also well aware that there's a lot of young, attractive (though less so as the day goes on) shirtless men wandering around. Music and eyecandy!
This year I was especially pleased to see The Living End, and especially disappointed to miss The Prodigy (details to follow).
I like that there are more 'Crowd Care' workers than security guards or police. The heat and dehydration, sunstroke, sunburn and drug use can be a pretty nasty combination. Usually this is managed well - there are paramedics and first aid tents set up, one of the stages is indoors and a good spot to cool down, sunscreen is available for free, and there are couple of places to get your waterbottle refilled.
Still, 36 degrees celsius, in a crowded area and usually in direct sunlight makes for interesting times.
Local news today is all about a 17 year old girl who died due to ecstacy overdose. Apparently, she had taken one pill before arriving, then swallowed a couple more on her way into the venue, when she realised that Police with sniffer dogs were checking arrivals. The specifics haven't been reported, but apparently she passed out, was rushed to hospital, and died. Obviously, this is sad, stupid and tragic, of course everyone has their own viewpoint and naturally, I find a few of them pretty offensive.
I'm used to being called bleeding heart or crazy leftie - I think that if people want to use mood altering substances; whether alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, or speed - they have the right to do so and the responsibility to be smart about their choices. I'm pro education - facts and harm minimisation, health issues and matter of fact warnings. I know people will abuse them - I'm not stupid, there's always someone who doesn't think about the consequences, whether we're talking drugs, weapons, driving, or investments. The vast majority will get through it okay. Judging from the state of mood and pupil dilation, there were a lot of people on something and mostly, they had a great time.
Thus endeth the rant of an addiction studies graduate.
Over the years, the management have dropped the ball on a few things - lack of rubbish bins makes the place a mess (when the bins are full to overflowing, there's not much you can do to dispose of rubbish thoughtfully), and there have been times where it's hard to find a water refil.
I thought that this year was the first time they'd actually made a decision that was dangerous.
The Prodigy is a pretty popular act, yet they placed it on one of the smaller stages, off in a corner. Naturally, a few thousand people flocked that way, even before they were due to start. The allocated space filled quickly, people started climbing onto buildings so they could see the stage (yeah, not brilliant, but it did make sense). The response was to errect barricades across the main access-ways to stop more people coming in. Of course, the barricades were about a metre high, so not preventing any determined punters. They also didn't tell anyone about the barricades - so I spent about 15 minutes in a very tightly packed crowd slowly moving towards the stage, only to find out that the bottleneck was caused by the barricade (and the people climbing over it). I'm not short, and I had problems keeping my feet in the pack - no way there wasn't someone getting trampled. Unlike some, once I realised I wouldn't get within 500m of the stage, be able to hear well, and would have to put up with a packed crowd the entire time, I gave up in disgust.
So yeah, not happy about the end of the night.
Fortunately, I saw some really good acts, bounced around a bit and generally enjoyed the rest of the day. I escaped without sunburn (just a touch of tan), thanks to multiple re-applications of sunscreen, and consumed about 5 litres of water during the day. So I hope no one got hurt in the crush, and that the organisers continue to learn from past errors.