Catalpa NYC

These guys really had all the elements of a great festival. The field was set perfectly, all the right extras and a whole lot of great acts. Then it rained. And although I thought putting out a giant tarp would fix the whole problem because then we’d all at least get to slip and slide it definitely was not the ideal weather. After they had to cancel their main tricks and move a bunch of DJs to another stage everything was kind of jumbled.
With that being said– I’m looking forward to seeing what these guys put together for 2013, I suspect it’ll be big. This year’s line up was definitely a little mis mashed with certain bands seeming to belong more on one day than the other. I hope they do more of a dance centered/​hiphop day and then rock/​dance the next… but i like to dance so it could just be me!!!
Either way– that snoop dogg show goes down in history as one of the best. Especially since it was the last.

What did you Unilocal people do with all the photos you took of us and claimed would be emailing?

black keys AND TV ON THE RADIO?! it was awesome. my only complaint? the Unilocal booth. seriously, don’t hire people to just sit and talk to each other. it gets three stars cuz we got vip n all we got was a tarp when it rained and cleaner bathrooms. So bring hand sanitizer and bring umbrellas.

great job, guys!
my only complaint is that tickets were pretty pricey — we paid something like $ 180 per person for 2 days… they were smart in putting The Black Keys on Saturday’s schedule, because that was the only band I wanted to see (maybe TV on the Radio too) for that day so I had to buy the wknd tickets. Also, they didn’t have the performance schedules posted until last minute so I just went ahead and bought the wknd tickets… though that was probably strategical (albeit annoying).
it was clean — food was good (Vegetarian Oasis — yum!) — beer was good (Magic Hat #9 on draft — yay!) — and the bathrooms (aka portapotties) weren’t bad at all. ATM fees were only $ 2.50 I believe, beers were $ 9, food was pretty cheap. not bad. The ferries were also pretty good, though it would have been helpful to have the TIMES available instead of just «ferries run every half hour»
of course, it wasn’t very crowded either — probably due to the weather (rain off and on)… but overall it was very cool for a once cool turned dork 30 something like me, and I appreciated the bands being on time and sticking to schedule.
The Black Keys trumped all performances, of course. I almost peed myself.
The Big Pink were awesome — I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t on the main stage yet City and Colour were?
Cold War Kids rocked out — solid performers
Dirty Heads were aiiight — not my cup of tea, but fun
Matt & Kim were magical — they really got the crowd going and were super exciting
we left right before Snoop Dogg went on — no interest there.

I’m still not quite sure the vibe they were going for based on their performers but I was moved to write because I felt that they executed well for a couple reasons.
1. Public transportation — the buses were waiting and on time and never over crowded.
2. The clean up staff was phenomenal. There was a constant crew picking up and even dancing along to the music. I was so impressed with the cleanliness of the whole thing.
3. Crowd control — I dunno how ticket sales were but the festival was not overwhelming in the least. I honestly get huge anxiety attacks thinking about crowds at these things and was anxiety free at this festival. We waited for food less than 5 minutes every time and never waited for a bathroom. We could always get an excellent spot for shows too.
4. All the acts were on time!
5. They had legit Vegetarian options!
6. Unilocal booth was fun!

Chill festival! First time on Randall’s Island for an event.
Lots of food choices, craft beer booths, and Heiniken! Win.

Nice line up not so nice weather. All grass fields so prepared to get muddy! Good food choices and a few craft brews like six point, magic hat. Lots of Heineken and a absolut tent though I’m not really a fan of either. Everything is a little overpriced so I’d make sure to fuel up and hydrate ahead of time. Very random eclectic crowd. Lots of pseudo hippies and hipsters. Lots of exposed tummies, daisy dukes and headbands. Free bedazzling, photoshoots and face painting at Unilocal tent :) there should be more free stuff/​water/​etc at promo tents though. Stages placed far enough apart at different angles so sounds don’t interfere. Some long gaps btwn bands tho. So head over to good, bathroom and the reggae stage then :) good marley cover band!