My .02 from going last year:
I'd have to say that if you can score any level of pass above and beyond the basic level, you should take full advantage of it.
I had a guest pass. Too bad I didn't camp in the "guest" section. Guest gets you most of the benefits of VIP, but there's no way to buy into it.
Last year, the water tasted like rancid rotten eggs after about the first day. Guest got filtered drinking water. Guest got camping snuggled right alongside the venue area, rather than a 45 min. death march away. The VIP bleachers, that Guest can also use, are so far away from the stages as to be for suckers and celeb-watchers
The best bit was that if you've got something above the basic wristband, nobody questions a damn thing you do. VIP area access was easy. Dragging non-Guest friends into Guest and VIP was also a breeze. Rather than wait in line to get searched and enter the venue area, I was able to walk in the exit, flashing my wristband and a smile. That allowed me to smuggle in backpacks full of beer, circumventing the usurious prices inside the venue area. It also allowed me to carry in some rather conspicuous tobacco equipment. Once you're past the security checkpoint, nobody bats an eye...
I'll probably be going this year with basic tickets (roughly $200-250 each). It'll be a pang after the freedoms I enjoyed last year, and I'll be bringing every drop of water I expect to drink from home. Am I sweating it? Not a bit. It's going to be a blast!
I went with a group. I, along with one friend, were long-time veterans of festivals and camping in general and put an anal-retentive amount of planning into the weekend. Our friends made fun of us. By the end of the weekend, we were mighty proud of ourselves for being so well prepared and nobody was laughing. We all had a great time.
Half-ass a Friday and Saturday festival, you feel like crap Sunday morning and go home. Half-ass a Thursday through Sunday festival and you're going to have a very bad time.
I'd plan to arrive between 10 am and 1 pm on Thursday. We got there about 6:30 am and got put into a remote camping lot. They filled the camping from the back forward and people who arrived somewhat later got much better camping. Of course, there's a point of diminishing returns and people who didn't get there until Thursday night or Friday morning got pretty well shafted, too. Who's to say how they'll manage it this year?
I had meticulously planned out which artists I was going to see. That pretty much went out the window when I got there. Best to pick a couple-few artists you absolutely have to see and wing it from there. There'll be a few great surprises. I've drunk the Kool-Aid with regard to Devendra Banhart after seeing him last year.
Jam-scene aficionados will bemoan the further popward direction of this year's lineup. This is, perhaps sadly, not just the hippies' party anymore. Still, there's so many good artists that you can't possibly see them all, even if you're just there to groove to jam rock. So how could anybody complain about the lineup?
Beg, borrow, or steal, but don't you dare miss it!
iscounted beverages and Full buffet and snacks
