I Want My 90 Bucks Back [A Rant]
So after waiting about 15 years to see R.E.M. live, I had my chance last night at Jones Beach. I spent $90 on my mid-level seat (not even the most expensive in the house), and maybe if Modest Mouse weren’t on the bill (and attempting to play an hour long set as a storm was clearly approaching) everything would have been fine. But they stayed on the stage until lightning actually HIT THE THEATER (Jeff reported via text it was the upper deck that was struck — incidentally, where he was sitting). It was then that I knew whatever boring song Isaac Brock was singing off their new album would be the last I’d hear that night.
Seriously, did the organizers or Jones Beach or Nokia or whoever’s in charge expect us to sit unprotected from the storm (which included torrential downpours), inside of what was apparently acting as a giant lightning conductor, and stick it out? An hour before they were preemptively shutting down the food court, allegedly for safety purposes.
When lightning actually struck, around 15,000 people were evacuated and ran for cover to the one spot available which could probably cover less than half of that. Not one employee seemed to know what was going on, and the lightning bolts kept striking down around us. Reportedly someone was injured. Eventually, after making a dash through 6-inch deep water in the parking lot, we left.
A little over an hour later, as lightning was still lighting up the sky, I got a message from a friend who stayed (he had a fancy All Access pass — meaning beer, roof, safety) that R.E.M. were going on! He got to watch from the stage.
For the rest of us, this BV comment pretty much sums it up. It really pisses me off that the organizers would put people in danger, be so disorganized, and then keep the show going (when some people were being told to “go home”) just so they could keep their money or whatever. Also? $6 for a bottle of water? Keep sucking, Jones Beach.
Yeah, what a night. Watching sparks fly off the top of the upper deck was quite scary. The lightning seemed a bit off in the distance…until it struck 30 feet from where I was sitting. I’ve never been that close to a strike before. and never while sitting in the same metal structure. Then, waking through 6 inches of flooded parking lot to get back to our car…while lightning still struck all over the place…was equally nerve wracking.
That said, the $.99 ponchos from Target…purhased on the way to the show thanks mostly to Jens tip about storms coming, kept the night from being completely miserable. The best dollar I’ve ever spent. Still…really poorly ran by Jones Beach. Zero organization or explanation. We only lost $25 each for choosing to sit in the lighning rod section and bailing in fear of our lives, but in buying a concert ticket, that really shouldn’t be part of the consideration…