L A Rising Concert

Note to the promoters-​PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BRING THIS EVENT BACK NEXT YEAR! IT WAS OFF THE FUCKIN HOOK! My first time seeing Rage and I was fuckin stoked! I didn’t think much of Lauryn Hills performance, considering the sound technicalities they had, as well as the fact that she didn’t sound the same. Muse put on quite an amazing performance, probably the best one of the night. Rise Against also rocked the hel out of the stage. By the way Mike, you fucking rock bro! El Gran Silencio were pretty dope as well as Immortal Technique. Dancing with the devil!
This was a political uprising concert with the messages saying just that! I saw at least a good 10 mosh pits. When Rage played Guerilla Radio, no lie, a mosh pit about half the size of a football stadium opened up. We started fires there and moshed around them. The fire department attempted to put them out, but the crowd just incited many mre afterwards. Parking was cheap but hell inside, especially to get out. It took us about an hour to get out.
Rage, if you guys can read this– fucking come back and play here again! I fucking love you guys I would however love to see System of a Down AND RATM play here for the second event, if there is one! Rock the fuck on!

Dear Rage,
I loved the event! I saw 10 mosh pits. 1 fire pit that was put out and lit back on again about 3 times. I sang along to Lauryn Hill who brought me back to 1998! Rise against brought the energy to the stage. Muse was the best I’ve ever seen them (and I’ve seen them live 5 times) they were truly on fire that night.
Tim … your tattoos were out and about! I love you.
Brad … you banged the hell out of it that night. I love you.
Tom … you are a magical wizard with that guitar! I love you.
Zach … your curls are still bouncy and lovely! I love you.
Thank you for bringing together an amazing lineup with a strong message for the youth to create change!
Love you always,
Lily A.

The greatest live band alive (RATM) along with Muse, Rise Against and many more… this is the stuff that dream line ups are made of.
But then those dreams are fucked up by stupid as promoters/​venues and other stupid ass people that make the decision to divide General Admission into 3 sections. This is just plain and utter bullshit.
First they rape your wallet with all the «(in)convenience fees» and you end up dropping well over $ 100 for GA Floor tickets thinking «hey, it’s a small price to pay to see RATM, I’ll probably get Tom Morello to sweat on me or Zach to spit in my eye» but then just days before the concert they make the decision to divide GENERAL ADMISSION. What part of General Admission don’t they get? You come in and stand wherever the fuck you can, that’s it. But now with designated sections the GA turned into Reserved Standing sections. This is the type of shit that they need to tell you when you’re buying the tickets. You think I want to pay over $ 100 to stand way the fuck in the back over 100 yards away from the stage? Hell no! Then when you try to break away into the next (better) section they’ve got security guards behind a rail treating you like its jail or some shit yet you paid just as much as those in the front. You can make the argument that it was first come first serve but fuck that, some people couldn’t make it that early and some simply didn’t know since they announced it the week before, thanks for the heads up.
Don’t even get me started with the fucked up audio when RATM took the stage.
Unfortunately the above experience (s) fucks with people’s overall perception of this great event. The bands killed it and the atmosphere of the L.A. coliseum was beautiful. But so many things went wrong that it’s hard for me to say this was a great show. Maybe (hopefully) this turns into an annual event and they work the kinks out next year.

This was such an amazing concert! Easily one of the absolute best I’ve ever been to, but I think that’s mostly because of Muse and Rage.
Having legitimately good food from food trucks and real restaurants was awesome. Especially since they were normal priced, not over-​priced like the Coliseum vendors. $ 9 for a beer, you guys can kiss … Deep breaths. Okay. I’m good. ANYWAY, I got an awesomely spicy ghost chili pork taco and a tasty slice of pizza. Tons of water too. Speaking of water, this was a huge screwup but they were supposed to have a waterbottle refilling station in the GA stadium floor area. They «forgot» to set it up. I don’t know if there was some logistical problem, someone truly did forget, or they were just trying to force people to buy $ 3 water. I truly hope it’s not the last one, because putting people’s lives in danger with the potential for dehydration, heat exhaustion, and even heat stroke is a dangerous game to play if you just want more profit. Especially with that demographic… Oh well, you got your booths torn down, suck it.
Speaking of demographics, the whole activist thing was pretty cool. Lots of really good causes to get behind and the general message of making the government accountable and honest was important. Some of the stuff I didn’t agree with, like boycotting Arizona. I don’t think they realized that LA gets a significant portion of their power from Arizona and a boycott would mean a blackout… silly, silly activists. Also, the website message that said no, you’re not allowed to hand out your flyers because we’re trying to be green… well then why were you handing out your own flyers all over the place? Hypocrites. Especially when you’re promoting holding the government responsible for their hypocrisy, this was kind of crass.
Music-​wise it was awesome. I don’t think I’ve heard anything as loud as the sound equipment they had. There was a bit of a stutter with the beginning of the Rage set, which was unfortunate, but it got figured out pretty quick.
Immortal Technique was a new one for me and they were pretty good. Ms. Lauryn Hill… if I could have made out what she was saying, I would probably have a better opinion of her, but since all I could hear was feoirjfguerfhuerhfuewrfh aweurhfuewiafh wuefhuweaif awuiefah waefwe aewrgfewrgfergeqrgerg, she seemed like she didn’t really belong. And she’s headlining Rock the Bells???
Rise Against sucked. I lose a lot of respect for bands when they sound significantly worse live than they do on their album. I thought I was back in high school with high pitched punk bands screaming about something or other. They did get better as their set went on, so maybe that was just some tweaking that needed to be done in the sound booth or maybe my ear drums bleeding a bit to cover the noise.
Muse was good. Second time seeing Muse live (first time was a good 6 years ago maybe) and their stage show has improved a ton. All of the pretty lights and lasers and video going on were really cool. The songs were loud and people were really into it, jumping around everywhere and stuff. Only complaint are some of the fans. Seriously Muse fans, what the hell? I know we’re all there to have a good time, but if I wanted someone to be screaming, headbanging, and jumping up and down into me during a slow ballad song, I would go to a mental hospital. One guy was somehow screaming louder than the last song they did, which was a loud rocking out one. That was impressive, and my ears will never be the same because of it.
Rage was insane. I never got to see them growing up and I missed them at the Palladium, so this was my chance to finally see one of my favorite bands. They were definitely the best band of the show to me and they got almost every single person rocking more than any of the other bands. I think a good half of the floor was mosh pits, and crazy ones with a looooooot going on, too. Like the fire in one of the GA 2 pits. Or all of the hard liquor in the GA 1 pit. They were an awesome live show too, really energetic and passionate and they sounded almost exactly like their studio recordings. That means they have actual talent, hooray! It’s also impressive how their message and their music is still relevant and brings the biggest crowds even today, over TWO decades from when they came up with their first songs. But yea, amazing set. Ears were ringing for days, body was all beat up from the moshing, rocked harder than any other concert I’ve been to.
Oh, also, what the hell uppity concert-​goers. You like your favorite band. Great. Fantastic. Stop telling everyone else that their favorite band sucks, has no musical talent, etc. You’re being a tool.

I’m so glad that this is listed as $$$$. It really should be listed as $$$$$$$$$$. I do like that there were activist groups there and their purposes varyied from war, labor and immigration to poverty. Did someone say POVERTY? Yea– that’s what my wallet screamed after I paid $ 9 for a cup of warm miller lite. Then it screamed BLASPHEMY… but that’s solely based on the beer. I know… I drop a grip on a ticket & then am mad at the beer prices– first world problem, I know. The thing is– it wasn’t just the beer that was overpriced. It was the food too. And for so much $ spent to get in (nevermind the time trying to figure out which entrance I was allowed to go through after having my bag searched and body felt up 3 times) it just seemed like I was paying michelin prices for gas station level munchies. Enough of my rant!
The concert… was GREAT! Aside from mic issues when RATM started-​I started the festival elated that Lauryn Hill has put down the crazy pipe and sounds back to her original form. Rise Against and Muse were entertaining. But RAGE… man oh woman… every time I hear them I’m again reminded of just how much I love them!

Having seen RATM 14 times in my life now I would say it is safe to say I know a good rage show when I see one.
The concept of this show in general was an educational one. Bringing artists together to entertain and to take the time to present current issues of War, Immigration, Poverty, and Labor, is just what the Doctor ordered.
I am sure people experienced some of the slight annoyances that we did like traffic, very high priced parking, and some crowds, but really what did you expect everyone???
With one million watts of power on stage, I doubt there was a seat in the house that had trouble hearing these great artists.
Although I’m not a Lauren Hill fan, I enjoyed a few Fugee’s songs at the end of her set.
Rise Against was right on the mark with there intense, aggressive, powerful and often inspirational music. I knew every song and this was just the beginning of a 5 hour sing a long for me.
Muse has to be one of the most theatrical along with the most perfectly performing artist in the music scene today. I’d already ranked them in my top 3 bands I’d ever seen live list (along with RAGE) BEFORE I came to this event. It is not like I’ve never been to many shows before either, having hundreds of shows under my belt in the last twenty years. Some people would argue they stole the show from Rage, I will not confirm or deny that because it was a very equal match with totally opposite styles of performance. Muse had a perfectly rehearsed or it would appear as such, performance with lights, solos, songs melting in and out of others including classic riffs from ACDC, Zep, Animals, ect…
Rage was on point and tight as usual. They had plenty of energy to fuel the show with no elaborate lights, gimmicks, or electronic help, just raw energy and power. So much that poor Zack had to take a breather in between songs which I will say was the first time I’d ever seen this from him. It brought me back to the first time I saw them play which was about one year before their first album release. They opened for a little known band by the name of Pearl Jam (they had one hit on the radio at this time with Alive) back in March of 1992. To see a band nearly twenty years later with the same tenacity and persistence of these guys was refreshing. «Some of those who work forces, are the same that burn crosses… Some of those who burn crosses are the same that HOLD OFFICE!!!» Zack you never cease to inspire me.
–Your Anger is a Gift!!! –RATM

What a phenomenal concert! There were a bunch of artists most of whom I didn’t see. My friends and I took our time to get here and the only bands we actually saw was the tail end of Rise Against and of course, Muse and Rage Against the Machine which was absolutely perfect.
This was the third time I’ve seen Muse in concert and they did not disappoint. They rocked just as much as they did the first time I saw them at Coachella. Their set list was as follows:
Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture
Uprising
Map of the Problematique
Supermassive Black Hole
Butterflies & Hurricanes (Hearbreaker intro)
Hysteria (Back in Black riff + Star Spangled Banner intro)
Nishe
United States Of Eurasia
Helsinki Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Resistance
Starlight
Time is Running Out (House of the Rising Sun intro + Bombtrack riff outro)
Stockholm Syndrome
Plug In Baby
Knights of Cydonia (Man with a Harmonica intro)
As for Rage Against the Machine, I never did get to see them during my angst ridden teenage years, so they were the major draw for me at LA Rising. Not that I’m all angst ridden now, I’m a happy and socially well adjusted adult now… lol, but I definitely needed to see them perform at least once in my lifetime. Let me say that they were electric. The energy they exude once they get on stage is amazing and they put on a great show. My only complaint was that the sound was somewhat screwed up for their set. Regardless it was still awesome.
RATM Set List:
Rage Against the Machine
Testify
Bombtrack
People of the Sun
Know Your Enemy
Bulls on Parade
Township Rebellion
Bullet in the Head
Down Rodeo
Guerrilla Radio
Calm Like a Bomb
Sleep Now in the Fire
Wake Up
Encore:
Freedom
Killing in the Name

An awesome idea. A music festival in Los Angeles proper. No having to trek to the NOS or Coachella in the land of dirt and bros with lifted trucks and a grenade sticker in the rear window. To top it off you have hometown rockers Rage Against The Machine throwing it and headlining. Throw in some legendary live performers, some socially conscious underground hip-​hop, the soulful sounds of Ms. Lauryn Hill (she never married thus Ms.), and the reggae, Spanish, rock, hip-​hop hybrid of El Gran Silencio and that winning like Charlie Sheen. Parking was okay cause we got there around 3pom but it was still 25 $. Got inside pretty quick cause there were various entrances NOT like the NOS where it’s one way in and lines to get could last hour+. Lot’s of food options from burgers, dogs, pizza, lunch trucks, corn etc. from a variety of vendors. Restrooms were pretty good, at least around 4−5pm when I went. They also had a reeducation camp where you could get info on various causes get a card stamped and when you complete you get a limited edition poster. Pretty cool way of getting apathetic youth to get involved for free schwag. First up was El Gran Silencio, cool band it’s a shame more people didn’t see them. Next up was Immortal Technique and he represented for the socially conscious hip-​hop heads in attendance and was cracking jokes to the crowd as well as trying to inspire heads. Next up was Lauryn Hill. She showed up on time and started performing. But the band’s volume was jacked way up while Hill’s mic was too low to compete with her band. It’s a shame because she had to yell and we still couldn’t hear her. Next up was Rise Against and they helped pump up the crowd after the Lauryn Hill set. Muse was up after that and performed a helluva show. I’m not into their music but it sounded good live and they really have a great stage presence. And finally it was time… Rage Against the Machine came out and built up the anticipation while the red star rose behind them until they burst out into Testify. The mic cut off a couple times which kinda stopped the frenzy if for a brief second. RATM’s performance killed and was worth the price of admission 100 $. The last time I saw RATM was at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (now the Korean Church off the 10fwy) in 1994 and it had been too long. RATM def brought the energy to it’s hometown in this historic venue. A few fires started on the field, a few people making a break for the field but other than that it was a good vibe. Can’t wait to see RATM again.

It started sometime during Rise Against’s set when I accidentally got sucked into a section of the mosh pit. I didn’t fully notice it until Muse came on and were a few songs in.
I had flown into Los Angeles the day before. In 2007 I adopted two Siamese kittens and named them Bellamy and Morello after my two favorite guitar players. You can bet the family farm I would not miss an event that united these two prodigies together so when I heard about L.A. Rising a few months earlier this year I immediate got online and bought my ticket. My friends and I had arrived at the L.A. Coliseum around lunchtime the day of the show because we had purchased pit tickets and we heard that they were going to be sectioning off the pit into three different sections, first come first serve. We wanted to be sure that we had access to the front of the pit for all the mayhem. Our efforts paid off and after waiting in a long line that stretched by the thousands across the Coliseum we got a green wristband that had Section One written on it. Were we going to be brave enough to take it?
We spent part of the day browsing the Re-​Education Camp that had booths set up to inform on various causes and eating from the myriad of food vendor options. Things didn’t really start to get packed until around 7PM when Rise Against took the stage. Tim McIlrath made a comment about the size of the Coliseum and the fact that the organizers of the event had placed black flags all around the perimeter of the massive structure (a common symbol of anarchy) which was something that he very much so liked. Muse took the stage right after dark and it was here when I began to realize the shift in my chest I first noticed during Rise Against was the result of something only a girl can understand: my front-​clasp bra had broken during the jumping and moshing and my boobs had achieved the ultimate goal of the politically charged L.A. Rising event by becoming liberated.
Thus it was during Muse’s seductive «Undisclosed Desires» song (how apropos) that I slipped my hands through the sleeves of my dress and pulled the broken, black bra off my chest and tucked it under my arm. It stayed there peacefully until Rage Against the Machine took the stage at 10:40PM and announced, «We are Rage Against the Machine and we are from Los Angeles, California» then launched into their intense single «Testify». My friends and I were only a few feet from the front of the stage, deep into a pit of mashed human bodies that spanned the entire football field of the Coliseum and stretched into the packed stands that held more than 60,000 fans. Mosh pits started dropping all around us like tornadoes on a muggy spring day and we found ourselves in a small cluster of people like refugees on an island of insanity. I want to take a moment to give kudos to the dudes in the pit at this time. Most of us ladies were, ahem, slightly terrified but the guys always looked out for the women, making sure that when bodies started thrashing up against other people not participating in the mosh they would step over and act as a barrier so that we would not get hurt. It was chivalry in the midst of chaos.
Sometime later over the throttle of Morello’s Arm the Homeless guitar (was it the song «Bullet In My Head?») you could actually hear faint screams coming from the stands. My friend and I looked back and saw to our horror a large fire in the 2^nd section of the pit and fire engine lights and sirens blaring from USC’s tunnel leading out into the field. We later found out that several fires had been set by fans and a couple of other friends who were sitting up in the stands noticed people dancing in the flames. Of course this didn’t stop the show from going on. It was all about anarchy right? Rage themselves had lit the Olympic torch (L.A. Coliseum had been host to not one but two Olympic events) right before taking the stage.
Yes there were people who tried to rush into the pit and yes the security and police were all over them (security was very, very tight at the event and there were even helicopters circling the Coliseum after the show). In the end Rage took to the stage for an encore of a couple of the most loved songs, ending with the fierce «Killing In the Name» that closes with a repeat of Zach screaming the lyrics «F*ck you, I won’t do what you tell me!!!». It was here that I launched my black flag, er my broken black bra into the throngs of people screaming and thrashing, making the ultimate sacrifice for the anarchist spirit of a massive show only Rage Against the Machine could pull off in the early 21^st century and only in a place like the seemingly sunny yet noir underbelly called the City Of Angels.

Took my daughter to LA tihs weekend to see MUSE. This is the 4^th time we’ve seen them in the past two years. The festival was a mess, poorly set up and organized. The only reason it’s getting 5 stars is because of MUSE. Even though this wasn’t their concert they still had the best show set up and really made it worth the 9+ hour day. These guys are the most incredible live group and we can’t wait to see them again next weekend at Outside Lands in San Francisco.

Ok, not to crap on lauren hill, but i can really do without her next time. thanks. The Coliseum is not the best place for a music events, but its not as terrible as like, the staples center either. Rise Against and Muse were pretty amazing but Rage blew them both away. muse was a bunch of flashy light shows and effects, and its ok cuz theyre Muse. Rage was just some good old no flash ball bursting angry music, as it should be.

A great lineup for a good cause. Socially conscious bands with messages that are suppported by great music.
Lauren Hill seemed a little out of place, but they rocked the house. They did some intersting twists on old favorites, including some Fugees songs. The songs were heavier than on the albums, to be expected considering the crowd. Lauren Hill was in fine form, it’s too bad the sound was off, way too loud and it lost a lot in the translation but then opening acts get that a lot.
Rise Against was unfamiliar to me, although I recognized some of their songs. They had crazy mosh pits, and put on a good show. The crowd really liked them, and they brought plenty of energy. They had great sound, which really helped. Loud, but the engineer was doing all the right things.
Muse was off the chain. I wondered how they would do with the primarily Rage crowd but they stole the show. They played more of their harder edged song, which was a little too bad they didn’t play more of their soaringly beautiful melodies but then it probably would have been lost on much of the crowd. As good as they were here, and they were great, on their own tour is really the place to see them. Still, it was amazing to hear close to 100,000 people singing along to many of the songs, word for word. They brought in a sick light show, with visuals for those who were flying high, big bouncing beach balls. They’re one of the best bands around these days, both on record and live. If you haven’t heard their older material, it’s even better than the current records. The sound for Muse was easily the best of the night. Pristine.
Rage was intense, even with some audio issues. They were loud, but almost too loud though I’m sure most of the crowd didn’t care. It was hard to hear the nuances in the music and Zach’s vocals were indecipherable, but when they were grooving it was amazing and the crowd was insane. Bombtrack, Bullet in the Head, Guerilla Radio and Killing in the Name Of were crazy good.
Even with a few audio issuesalong the way, and a crazy General Admission policy, it was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. Ears ringing… check, lost voice… check, contact high… check, hearing a hundred thousand people singing Muse and Rage in unison… pretty much perfect.

I flew in from Washington DC on Saturday Morning. I took a cab from the airport directly to the venue and arrived at 9am to stake out my place in line for section 1 GA seats. There were a few issues when they lined us up to get in but once we got our section 1 wristbands everything else worked out well the entire day. I was very impressed with the crowd control folks. they were very curteous and professional.
The show was amazing! I was there to see Rage but Rise Against, Muse and El Gran Silencio also rocked the place. I have seen RATM 6 times (now 7) and I have never seen them sound better. They seemed to be having a great time playing together… I hope they do it more. I would LOVE for them to put out a new album…

Sick bands. Sick venue. Sick night.

Epic indeed!
I blame our tailgating and boozin’ of Gatorade and Vodka in the USC parking structure that caused me to crash earlier than I’d have liked to.
Big pluses for our seat upgrades! The venue (L.A. coliseum) couldn’t have been more beautiful and the sound system, for the most part, was killer!
Big, big negative on the $ 9 lite beer. ugh. I must’ve spend close to a dub on whack beer alone.
Got to give up to Rage Against the Machine for their first year efforts and all the awesome programs and organizations present.

Epic! One of the greatest concerts ever. Muse and Rage were amazing. First time hearing Rise Against. They were powerful.
It was fun seeing fires, crowd surfers and moshing on the floor but I am glad I had seats just to the right of the stage — front row!

Great lineup: Rise Against, Muse, RATM. Muse’s set was amazing. The lighting, visuals, and balloons, all of it is what makes Muse such a spectacular band to see live. RATM, period. Need I say more?
That aside, definitely not happy with how general admission was handled. It should have been announced at the time of purchase that they had planned on sectioning off the general admission area. Had that been the case, I would have chosen a seat.
In addition, the position of the two jumbotron on either side of the stage was too low. It would have been better had they raised it to accommodate those in the general admission area. To make matters worse, the churro cart’s umbrella was blocking part of the view of the stage. Not only could I not see clearly, I didn’t even get to buy a churro since it was located in section 2 of the general admission area.
With that said, the show was definitely memorable. Got to see 3 fires being set, people trying (and some actually succeeding) to push through the gates/​guards to cross to the other section, man climb to the top of the speakers, guards tackling people, girl crying, people moshing, being enveloped in a constant cloud of ganja. I love LA!

Best concert ever! Rage against machine was incredible. Timmyc from Rage was a Jedi master of Bass last nite. Venue was incredible, parking was a little tuff but anytime you put more than 60,000 plus in a stadium it will be. The most powerful sound system ever in Los Angeles so Im told 1 million watts (crazy) you could feel every beat
LA Rising 2012 see you there

OMG, this show was so beyond amazing, I don’t even know where to begin! Even the little annoyances and hassles were well worth it to experience the bands and and immense energy and talent that is Rage Against the Machine. The Reeducation Camps were very informative and I hope that all the head-​banging kids stopped there and learned something on the way to the mosh pits!
Yes, traffic was a byatch all along Exposition and Figueroa Streets but there were over 60,000 people packed into the L.A. Coliseum. Lots of security everywhere, which I found unusually reassuring only because so many people were in the pits-​all three sections set aside on the field-​and there were going crazy moshing.
Good vendor selections of all different kinds of foods and drinks and I even grabbed a bacon-​wrapped hot dog inside the Coliseum, and after the show, on the streets. Yummy! But it was hot there and lots of people were obviously drunk. Still, once the first three acts were done (El Gran Silenco, Immortal Technique and Lauryn Hill), the melting of faces began in earnest! Rise Against was really impressive and I liked how Tim-​the lead singer– talked about veterans and then sang a song about them. Muse was-​as usual-​grandiose but wonderful. They really have a great light show full of strobes and all kinds of special effects that is showy but their music is awesome too. Some people think Muse might have stole the show from Rage?
But then Rage Against the Machine hit the stage and it was MIND-​BLOWING! Intense, powerful, life-​changing rock that was played so perfectly. The mosh pits were going crazy! A fire was even started but quickly put out. I was so transfixed by the show that I had a hard time walking back to my hotel. Then I had to take a knock-​out pill to get to sleep, I was so revved up from the show! Now that’s 5 Unilocal STARS all the way!

The show itself was easily 5 stars, but they need to work on their organization getting into the stadium for General Admission.
I had GA tickets, so I got to the stadium very early to line up for zone 1 wristbands (ie, closest to the stage) This also helped avoid traffic and made parking easier. So far so good.
But when I walked up to the security guards at the main gate, and asked where the line started, they had no clue. They called their supervisor, and he had no idea. The website said the west entrance, but there was nobody there. Finally after walking completely around the stadium twice and asking 5 guards, I found someone in the vendor area that said the line was forming a block away from the stadium, past the swimming center. Huh?
Yes, they had us sit on the sidewalk on a busy street way away from the stadium. After being in a specific order for hours, they then walked us over to the stadium to get into a new line for another 2 hours in the sun. There, even though the website said we could bring in medium sized backpacks with things like towels, sunblock, and other things you might need for a 12 hour concert in the sun, the security people decided that any backpack over 18″ was too big, and told some of us to take them back to our cars, our they wouldn’t let us in. Ugh. That wasn’t on the website.
Luckily the people by me in line agreed to save my place, so I ran everything pack to the car, and had to make due with whatever would fit in my pockets. Now the real chaos started.
Rather than bring us in through the gates and hand out wristbands as you enter, they decided to have some people come out to the line to check tickets and handout wristbands. This created a sea of people crowding and pushing, and the line we had all been in for hours was out the window. People had been camping out overnight to be first, and now it was just a mob. Other people who had just shown up hours later just jumped into the sea of people. Many people were understandably really mad.
They had us inside a fenced area, and people could barely move. It was a major fire hazard. But did they recognize their mistake and fix it? No. They left us standing in the sun in this fenced off area for over an hour. People were getting severely overheated and clausterphobic, and one person passed out and had the ambulance come to get them. The security guards still wouldn’t move people. Unbelievable.
Finally, 30 minutes later, and 30 minutes later than they were supposed to, they finally let us in.
The website said you could bring your own water bottles, and there would be re-​filling stations on the field. But there wasn’t. Just booths selling bottles for $ 3 each. I bought 3 bottles (since we weren’t allowed to bring in our own). The website also said there would be food booths on the stadium floor for GA people, but they were all outside the stadium. This is the first time they’ve done this festival though, so maybe they just need to work out the kinks.
All the hassles paid off though as I got a front row spot right on the barricade near center stage! The security guards up here were WAY better and even handed out free bottles of water and sprayed the crowd with water periodically to keep people from overheating. Nice touch.
All the acts were very good, although Lauryn Hill seemed to be a little off, and somewhat out of place amongst the other ‘hard’ acts.
Rage headlined, since they invented this festival after all, and they were as good as advertised. I didn’t realize they haven’t headlined a concert in LA since 1999 (according to the band’s website), and you could tell they were eager to get in front of the LA fans again as they hit the stage with intense energy. I think they are WAY better live than they are just listening to a album. The fans were crazy as usual moshing and pushing people up and over the crowd.
Muse was almost as crazy. Their music is fantastic, but their live stage show is just sick. This was my 3^rd time seeing them, and even though this wasn’t their full stage setup that they use when headlining their own tour, it was still a massively impressive show. One of the best I’ve ever seen.
As one of the reviewers stated, they almost border on over the top. At a politically charged event like this one, most of the bands just performed in front of a black curtain and had a simple setup, and basically preached from the stage. But that’s just not Muse’s style. They want to blow away all of your senses, not just your ears. Plus, they are incredible showmen. They did some freestyling and ad-​libs, throwing in the Star Spangled Banner, a classic Animals song, some AC/​DC riffs, and a drum/​bass solo that that you could feel in your chest as much as hear. They don’t just come out and play their hits, they put on a show, and you get your money’s worth every time.
If you’ve never seen these guys live, it needs to be on your bucket list.