QUINCY, Wash. — Attendees of the Gorge Amphitheatre say they’re outraged at the venue’s lack of preparation after spending much of last weekend waiting in long lines.
Gorge officials say they’re refunding those who paid for a campsite, but many say a refund doesn’t make up for hours of frustration.
On Friday, the campground check-in process kept thousands of people at a standstill, some sitting on the side of the road for almost 16 hours.
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Emma Adkins and Alex Salisbury said they joined the lineup of cars waiting to enter the campgrounds at around 5 p.m. on Friday. They then sat in their car, dead stopped all night, watching the sun go down and back up again before finally setting up camp at around 9 a.m.
“A lot of people just missed the first day entirely because they were asleep,” said Alex.
Emma and Alex say they spent months looking forward to the festival.
“Since the tickets dropped, we anticipated this. Connected with all our friends who were going,” said Emma. But that excitement quickly disappeared.
“I believe a couple of people had medical emergencies [while waiting]. We saw ambulances going by,” she added.
Attendee Danica Wilson said if she’d had to wait any longer, she would have run out of gas. Other attendees told KIRO 7 that they saw people running into nearby groves and vineyards to relieve themselves, since there were no portable bathrooms nearby.
We spoke with a member of the Gorge’s security team who wanted to remain anonymous.
He says LiveNation, the parent company that owns the Gorge Amphitheatre, switched security teams this year, causing the slowdowns.
“They were saying they needed a mandatory 30 seconds after every car to let the dog rest; they wouldn’t budge on that,” he told KIRO 7.
Other LiveNation employees that KIRO 7 spoke to at the festival corroborated that report, adding that they believed a “last-minute” switch-up of security led to undertrained, unprepared staff.
Both weekend headliners apologized on social media.
“I’m so sorry for the wait times you experienced; it’s unacceptable, it’s not okay, I’d be furious, frustrated, angry, tired,” said artist GRiZ.
“We are so so deeply sorry; you don’t deserve to put up with insanity like that,” added artist Subtronics.
On Saturday, people didn’t get what they paid for, either. Danica, Emma, and Alex were among many who waited over five hours standing out in the hot sun to enter the venue.
“We witnessed multiple people passing out,” said attendee Ashley Borg. “It genuinely felt like we were treated like livestock.”
Attendees brought their frustrations to social media, where the Gorge posted the following statement, which said, in part:
“The Gorge is committed to providing an excellent camping experience and we take safety and security seriously. Given unusually high early arrivals it took too long for campers to enter, and we understand the frustration it caused.”
— The Gorge Amphitheatre via Instagram
The comment section was disabled on the post.
Days later, the amphitheatre posted a second statement, outlining the changes that would be made ahead of this upcoming weekend’s Brandi Carlile shows, promising attendees that extra steps would be taken to keep fans updated and lines moving quickly.
KIRO 7 reached out to LiveNation to ask specifically what they believe caused such long backups, if they believe security changes were the issue, if LiveNation is currently in charge of security operations, whether this is the first time that they have been in charge if so, how many people entered the campgrounds and venue last weekend, and whether they could confirm that staff members were unable to get to the venue because of the backups.
Here’s what we received back:
“Thanks for reaching out — referring you <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.instagram.com/p/DY0tqDQEdW5/__;!!F8-Dj6fVkZI!eE4z6v04soU85MxC-TO4BA_NOx3fcdoDwrrhrB3PumG0rIHEO2NEhSTdVNSF_8YefcGLHR1ON7XsZ96x5wBlzl0GmO4$" rel="">to our social post here</a> for full venue statement, as well as <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.instagram.com/p/DYsLrEHTV8P/__;!!F8-Dj6fVkZI!eE4z6v04soU85MxC-TO4BA_NOx3fcdoDwrrhrB3PumG0rIHEO2NEhSTdVNSF_8YefcGLHR1ON7XsZ96x5wBlmgHhF4Y$" rel="">our statement for Griztronics campers</a>.
Calling out here the extra steps the venue is now taking to help fans get into the Campground and venue quickly:
— LiveNation
- We will be ready to open camping one hour earlier at noon on Thursday and will open additional screening lanes to accommodate camping guests arriving at the same time.
- We will add even more screening lanes to both the Campground and the venue to ensure a more efficient check in process.
- The venue will be open a minimum of 2 hours before music starts."
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