Angry With Alternative Music Lifestyle Hypocrisy.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Sorry to go off topic here true brit.

I fear the "good people" of the UK not overly concerned with cleaning up after themselves.

Here's a random shot of a fraction of a campsite the day after everyone went home and what the recycling crew has to deal with.



Pretty sad really although it does mean that I have not had too buy any clothes for many years and am never short of a tent.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I picked up my bat utility belt for the same reason when going to sonisphere last year. went to blood stock last year too and on sunday in the pissing rain just before megadave was on i thought i was skint but found 40 quid in one of the secret pockets still left from sonisphere WIN!

a reply to: nonspecific

Oh yuck! Yea, I attend hippy festivals so the attendees I see at the festivals I go to tend to be more open to cleaning up after themselves. Though I'm sure there are a few campsites scattered around afterwards that may look similar (plus I'm sure the larger ones like Bonnaroo have their fair share of huge messes), but nothing as widespread as that. Mostly just trampled grass from a tent sitting there for 3 to 4 days and maybe a burnt spot from a campfire.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

One of the things that is great about being me, is that I literally have not got enough money, to get wasted enough to loose my belongings. I have a massive tolerance for alcohol, and so no matter how utterly pickled I am, I always retain my footing, and do not loose my possessions through being too wasted. The great thing about an assault vest, is that all your pockets are right in front of you, which makes it harder for someone to slip your wallet out of a pocket without your knowledge. My vest has very strong Velcro and stiff poppers on its various pockets, meaning that even a consummate pickpocket would have trouble stealing from me in a crowd without my knowledge.

Besides which, in my experience most festival theft is organised, and occurs in the campsites, when everyone is busy rocking out in the main arena. I know people who have had things pinched from their tents when they have been asleep, but most of the theft that happens at Bloodstock is done by sneak thieves, local elements, as opposed to traveling professional pilferers. A couple of years ago, a pair of fellows jumped the fence around the festival site, and proceeded to the campsite, where they set about stealing from the tents in broad daylight. Legend has it, that several metalheads saw this go off, quietly surrounded the pair, knocked ten bells out of them, and had them tied up with scavenged guy ropes before security had even jumped on their ATV to see what the fuss was about.

The assault vest also allows me to carry all the essentials, like sun cream, tobacco, lighters, wallet, binoculars, camera, mobile phone, flashlights (redundancy and a spare for loaning to my less well prepared mates), festival guide and so on, all without having to use a bag. Immediate access to sun cream is a must for me, because I burn like a Guy Fawkes effigy if the sun comes out strong.

The document pockets on the inside of the garment mean that I can carry small purchases I might make at the merch and gear vendors, again without resorting to a bag, as well as my festival ticket, just in case my wrist band somehow gets broken during the fest.

Heh... My nerdiness has rubbed off on the crowd there I think!

originally posted by: kountzero
a reply to: TrueBrit

I picked up my bat utility belt for the same reason when going to sonisphere last year. went to blood stock last year too and on sunday in the pissing rain just before megadave was on i thought i was skint but found 40 quid in one of the secret pockets still left from sonisphere WIN!

Sorry again true brit.

Was that sonisphere UK?

If so it was a good festival, I was gutted it was not on this year.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Krazysh0t

One of the things that is great about being me, is that I literally have not got enough money, to get wasted enough to loose my belongings. I have a massive tolerance for alcohol, and so no matter how utterly pickled I am, I always retain my footing, and do not loose my possessions through being too wasted. The great thing about an assault vest, is that all your pockets are right in front of you, which makes it harder for someone to slip your wallet out of a pocket without your knowledge. My vest has very strong Velcro and stiff poppers on its various pockets, meaning that even a consummate pickpocket would have trouble stealing from me in a crowd without my knowledge.

Yea... I COULD say the same except my friends DO have the money to do that. I once went to Delfest (a bluegrass festival in Cumberland, MD) completely on someone else's dime. They paid for the ticket ($200) as well as helped we out with the other... stuff.

Well that is pretty spiffy with your vest. Does it get hot in the summer?

Besides which, in my experience most festival theft is organised, and occurs in the campsites, when everyone is busy rocking out in the main arena. I know people who have had things pinched from their tents when they have been asleep, but most of the theft that happens at Bloodstock is done by sneak thieves, local elements, as opposed to traveling professional pilferers. A couple of years ago, a pair of fellows jumped the fence around the festival site, and proceeded to the campsite, where they set about stealing from the tents in broad daylight. Legend has it, that several metalheads saw this go off, quietly surrounded the pair, knocked ten bells out of them, and had them tied up with scavenged guy ropes before security had even jumped on their ATV to see what the fuss was about.

See things like that don't happen to much at the festivals I go to. What you have to worry about at the festivals I go to is just shady characters selling crap (if you know what I mean).

The assault vest also allows me to carry all the essentials, like sun cream, tobacco, lighters, wallet, binoculars, camera, mobile phone, flashlights (redundancy and a spare for loaning to my less well prepared mates), festival guide and so on, all without having to use a bag. Immediate access to sun cream is a must for me, because I burn like a Guy Fawkes effigy if the sun comes out strong.

That sounds like it could be heavy to wear all day. Do the gate guards have to check all your pockets whenever you head up to the stage from your campsite? If not, do you ever sneak beers to the stage?

The document pockets on the inside of the garment mean that I can carry small purchases I might make at the merch and gear vendors, again without resorting to a bag, as well as my festival ticket, just in case my wrist band somehow gets broken during the fest.

Heh... My neediness has rubbed off on the crowd there I think!

Sounds like you'd do well in the Boy Scouts to me. Lol.

a reply to: nonspecific

DUDE!

There is nothing more aggravating than walking into a pristine field on the first day, and seeing that people have made a wreck of things by the end of it to an unnecessary degree.

I make sure that all the trash from my escapades is disposed of inside or next to the industrial sized waste bins provided by the site. That is an amenity which I pay for every year as part of the ticket price, and I am going to utilise it! And you know, for every metalhead at a festival anywhere, this is important advice...

If you like tickets for festivals to be reasonably priced, then take heed. Every time you take a piss up against a vendors cart, tent, or wagon, every time you set a bin on fire, and for every bag of waste that has to be picked up from the corner of the field, rather than collected from the bins, some digits on the ticket price go up. Every time there is a riot, every time there is a serious theft, or an incident involving some insurance money being paid to someone, the ticket price rises.

Have a great time, rock out, get your freak on in any way which pleases you, but bear in mind that excessive waste, irresponsible waste management techniques, and damage to vendor or site property will incur a price hike. I am not made of money, and neither are most metalheads, so its vital that we keep prices low, by keeping our standards high!

That said, I saw some pictures of Glastonbury, a festival associated with the wheatgrass smoothie and Starbucks crowd, the sort of ecologically aware types that harass innocent people about their recycling at home. The aftermath was worse than any I have seen at Bloodstock since 2007 when I started going there every year, and about as bad as the aftermath of Download 2006, which was a bloody terrible mess. None the less, metalheads everywhere need to keep their crap together when it comes to clean up. There should not be any tents left behind, or empty beer tins lying all over the place. One or two is not too bad, and its a festival and people will be wasted, but there is no need to create an ecological emergency, just because you happen to be having a good time!

a reply to: TrueBrit

Although you are a good man I must say from my point of view that as a festival goer you are of no benifit to me.

I do less now but I have in the past done nearly 6 months on the road going from event to event and although the money is not great the fact that you have no rent to pay and the shocking amount of stuff you can acumulate makes for a decent summer.

As part of a "recycling crew" it is not uncommon to find up to a hundred quid a shift on the floor on top of your wages. Not many people get paid to find money whilst Mettalica or ACDC play live while your doing it!

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Ah, yes, the weight issue. Well it does weigh more than a basic waistcoat or battle jacket, which are both options for day wear at a fest, but because it keeps all the weight over your centre of gravity, you do not really feel the weight of your gear when you wear the vest, especially if you have the tie adjusters at the side organised right.

Regarding getting searched and transporting beer from campsite to fest arena, although there are many pockets, there are none quite large enough to hide a beer inside. Of course, after so many years of going there yearly, the security guys who have been regularly assigned to the fest over the last nine years are familiar with me, and have gotten used to my level of preparedness, and often just wave me in, usually with a witty comment like "Oh bloody hell. You again!". Sometimes I do get searched, and that takes a good five minutes. They never search the document pockets inside the thing though!

As for the Boy Scouts, all I ever learned when I was a Cub back in the day, was how to be entirely isolated while in large groups. Our pack leader was a useless pile of something unmentionable, smelt of stale Stella Artois every time I ever saw him, couldn't knot his own shoelaces, and really had all the role model qualities of Fred West.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Ah, yes, the weight issue. Well it does weigh more than a basic waistcoat or battle jacket, which are both options for day wear at a fest, but because it keeps all the weight over your centre of gravity, you do not really feel the weight of your gear when you wear the vest, especially if you have the tie adjusters at the side organised right.

Yea I guess this is a fair point. Similar to a backpack. Though whenever I take backpacks into the stage area I tend to get annoyed at carrying it and usually sit it down at my feet, next to my sandals (yes I'm usually barefoot at the stage).

Regarding getting searched and transporting beer from campsite to fest arena, although there are many pockets, there are none quite large enough to hide a beer inside. Of course, after so many years of going there yearly, the security guys who have been regularly assigned to the fest over the last nine years are familiar with me, and have gotten used to my level of preparedness, and often just wave me in, usually with a witty comment like "Oh bloody hell. You again!". Sometimes I do get searched, and that takes a good five minutes. They never search the document pockets inside the thing though!

Yeah it sounds like an ordeal to me. That sucks about the pocket space though. I'm always trying to be creative with getting beers to the stage, though like I said to nonspecific, the festivals I go to are ran by volunteers who are really there to party like myself, so they usually don't give a damn even if they find something. My buddy has a cooler backpack (it's literally a backpack with a cooler insulation liner in it and a pocket at the bottom that opens up to dispense beers), had it stocked with beers, walked up to the gate, the guard asked him if he had any beers then FELT the bag, my buddy was like "nope", and the guy was like "ok go ahead". I couldn't stop laughing at it.

As for the Boy Scouts, all I ever learned when I was a Cub back in the day, was how to be entirely isolated while in large groups. Our pack leader was a useless pile of something unmentionable, smelt of stale Stella Artois every time I ever saw him, couldn't knot his own shoelaces, and really had all the role model qualities of Fred West.

Sounds about like the Scout troop I was in when I lived in Mississippi. The older kids used to love peeing on the younger kids while standing on the roof the building we held meetings at... Yea... I didn't last long there. Luckily I didn't get any golden showers.

a reply to: nonspecific

yeah, Knebworth 2014, was gutted too that it didn't make it in 2015, crossing fingers for bloodstock this year, funds allowing. Looks a go for Sonis 2016 tho. As for being searched, my leather cutt has a pouch inside the lining that can fit 2 soft water pouches from the pound shop. Great for vodka or whatever, peach schnapps is a fave of the g/f.

originally posted by: kountzero
a reply to: nonspecific

yeah, Knebworth 2014, was gutted too that it didn't make it in 2015, crossing fingers for bloodstock this year, funds allowing. Looks a go for Sonis 2016 tho. As for being searched, my leather cutt has a pouch inside the lining that can fit 2 soft water pouches from the pound shop. Great for vodka or whatever, peach schnapps is a fave of the g/f.

I will be working at bloodstock this year, if your ok with loosing annonimity then send me a message, We can meet up and I can get your beers into the arena and save you paying 4 quid a pop bar prices.

a reply to: nonspecific

DUDE!

You are working at the Stock this year?

Man, screw a favour on the beer front brother, I will BUY you an overpriced pint of Bloodstocks finest ale! Where do you spend most of your time man? This is going to be such a killer year!

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: nonspecific

DUDE!

You are working at the Stock this year?

Man, screw a favour on the beer front brother, I will BUY you an overpriced pint of Bloodstocks finest ale! Where do you spend most of your time man? This is going to be such a killer year!

I have never worked Bloodstock before and I still have to confirm, the last time I worked for the company I was on the nightshift.

Send me a message closer to the date and we will figure something out for, It would be rude for me not to buy you a beer back though!

I'm off to check the lineup and dates.

Have you got round to ordering your studs yet?

a reply to: nonspecific
With regard to Bloodstock, absolutely matey. Will shoot you a line nearer the time.

On the subject of studs, I found a company that was prepared to be reasonable, but funds have had to go in other directions of late anyway, so no, not as of yet. It may, at this rate, have to wait until after festival, because there is no way in hell I am prioritising some random adornments over my ability to have a wicked time at the fest!

Gone but not forgotten, used to be a little t-shirt shop in grimy old Croydon where i used to live in my youth where studs were sold by the weight in a little brown paper bag.

a reply to: kountzero

If you are going to bloodfest give us a shout, truebrit's getting the first round in.

I see they have over 100 real ales, I might not get a lot of work done at this one...