Rich and I
went to the Warped Tour in Asbury Park on August 5th. We got in the gates at about 12:30, we left at 3pm.
I dished out over $60 for those tickets since I couldn’t find a place
to buy them other than stupid ticketmaster.
I hate those people, remind me to search the ends of the earth for a
better source before I ever buy another ticket from them.
Why did we leave after only 2 hours.
Well, there were a few reasons. The
sound quality sucked, the layout was terrible, there was no cool off tent. But the main reason we left was because we could not afford
to survive the day. It was very
hot, like over 90 degrees hot. I’m
not sure of the exact temp, but believe me, it was a scorcher. We were only permitted to bring in one bottle of water.
One bottle of water on a hot day lasts all of ten minutes.
As anyone who went to the tour knows, water inside is very expensive. At $3 a bottle, we were going broke by 2pm.
There was no way we could afford to stay hydrated until the end of the
day. When we left, I was crying and
almost passing out. I was so
dehydrated that I had a headache until late that night.
I sent an email to the address on the Warped Tour site, but haven’t
heard back from them. Either they haven’t had time or they just don’t care.
After all, they have their money, what does it matter that one girl was
deeply upset by the fact that they allow vendors rip off the people at the show
with very dangerous consequences. I
am also in the process of writing every single label with bands present, every
band present, and every sponsor of the show.
I want them to know that they are promoting a very dangerous act.
Water is not a luxury. It is
a life necessity. We cannot live
without water.
My proposal is simple. Those
little bottles of water cost less than a quarter in the grocery store.
They could sell them for a buck and still make a zillion percent profit.
Sell the water cheap, but keep the prices high on things like soda,
juice, slushies and the like. Sure
it’s still a rip off, but at least everyone will have an affordable option for
staying alive. I would also like to
see them provide some sort of affordable food, but right now I’m more
concerned about water. People can
survive without food, eat a decent meal before the show and after, and still be
fine. People cannot go an entire
hot day without plenty of water to drink.
I am just one person, and will most likely not be able to accomplish
much. As long as people are dishing
out the money, nothing will change. I
suggest that everyone write to the Warped Tour and the various labels and bands,
and tell them that you would greatly appreciate anything they can do to ensure
you can enjoy the show, and most importantly of all, survive the show without
having to be carted out on a stretcher from dehydration.
Making water unaffordable isn’t just cruel, it is downright criminal.
Update- I wrote this article originally right after the show. I recently wrote the Vans corporation with my complaint. They were very informative and promised they would look into a way to provide water at a reasonable price and make the first aid tent more accessible. Turns out they didn’t even own the Tour this year, in the email they said “The tour was actually owned by Launch.com in 2001. They bought the tour in 2000. Since September 2001 Vans has bought back the tour from Launch.”
Other
quotes from their email:
“In
regards for the heat and water availability probably one or our hardest venues
is the Asbury Park venue since it is just open streets and old parking lots
where there is little public water fountains available. This site is also very
crowded due to the New Jersey and New York enthusiast. I have been on the tour
for the past 6 years and I'm always at the Asbury stop. I apologize for the
promoter selling water at $3 per bottle.” “Next year at Asbury Park I will
ask the promoter to lower their prices on water or supply some kind of water for
the public.” Definitely a start
and it’s nice to know that Vans gives a crap about their customers.